3B98 


i£x  Hthrta 


SEYMOUR  DURST 


"t '  'fort  nteuw  ^Amjlerdam.  oj>  Je  JAantjatarus 


When  you  leave,  please  leave  this  book 

Because  it  has  been  said 
"Sver'tbing  comes  t'  him  wbo  waits 

Except  a  loaned  book." 


Avery  Architectural  and  Fine  Arts  Library 
Gift  of  Seymour  B.  Durst  Old  York  Library 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2013 


http://archive.org/details/greenwoodcemeterOOclea 


GREEN-WOOD  CEMETEK1 


A  HIS TOBY 


OF 


THE  INSTITUTION 


FROM  1838  TO  1S64. 


BY  NEHEMIAH  CLEAVELAND. 


WITH  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


NEW  YORK: 

AND  E R SOX    &    A  K C  H E R , 

430  BROOME  STREET. 
1866. 


CUfrlC5 
AA 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1S66, 

By  THE  GREEX-WOOD  CEMETERY, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the 
Southern  District  of  New  York. 


L  VAN  AND  EN,  PRINTER,  BROOKLYN. 


In  preparing  this  historical  account  of  Green- Wood,  the 
author  had  free  access  to  the  records  and  official  documents  of 
the  Corporation.  From  members  of  the  Board,  also,  who  have 
been  familiar  with  every  transaction  relating  to  the  Cemetery, 
he  received  valuable  information,  explanatory  or  supplement- 
ary. So  far  as  its  facts  are  concerned,  the  work  may  be 
considered  as  authentic  in  its  character,  and  as  sanctioned  by 
the  Directors.  For  all  mere  comments  and  expressions  of 
opinion,  the  writer  is  alone  responsible. 


Illustrations. 

DRAWN  BT  8.  V.  HUNT. — EMC  CAT  ED  BY  R.  A.  WILLIAMS. 


ORIGINAL  ENTRANCE  AND  KEEPER'S  LODGE.   (1818).        Between  pages  42  and  43 

ENTRANCE  IN  1S45    40  "  47 

KEEPER'S  LODGE,  ENLARGED  1545    40  "  47 

GARDENER'S  LODGE,  OCEAN  HILL  52  «■  53 

WESTERN  ENTRANCE,  1S50    53  "  59 

GARDENER'S  LODGE.  SOUTHERN  ENTRANCE         .         .         .  62  »  63 

RECEIVING-TOMBS  74  "  75 

ENGINE  HOUSE  SO  M  SI 

WESTERN  ENTRANCE,  1SC0  84  "  So 

GARDENER'S  LODGE,  BATTLE  HILL  S6  ■  -7 

RESERVOIR  AND  FOUNTAIN  U  *  95 

SOUTHERN  ENTRANCE,  1S01  94  "  95 

SUPERINTENDENT  OF  INTERMENTS  HOUSE  90  97 

STABLES  96  9T 

NORTHERN  ENTRANCE  100  "  107  - 

OUTER  GATE,  NORTHERN  ENTRANCE  100  »  107 

PORTER'S  LODGE  •     .  10S  «  109 

TOOL  HOUSE  10S  "  109 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Prefatory  Note      .......  3 

A  History  of  Green- Wood  needed  axd  timely       .  .  5 

Mount  Auburn  Founded     ......  G 

Suggestion  of  Me.  Pieeeepoxt  ....  7 

Lectuee  of  Ma  joe  Douglass         .....  T 

Tiie  Ground  Exploeed  axd  Mapped    ....  9 

The  Company  Ixcoepoeated         .....  9 

Names  of  the  Commissioxees    .....  9 

positiox  of  the  geouxd     .         .         .         .         .  .10 

Meetixg  of  the  Laxd-Owxees  .  .  .  .  .  ]0 

The  Appeaisemext    .  .  .  .  .         .  .10 

Original  Otvxees  .  .  .  .  .  .  11 

Historical  Associations     .         .         .         .         .  .11 

Refeeence  to  Property  Map    .  .  .         .         .  13 

Exorbitant  Demaxds  .  .  .  .         .  .13 

The  Chagot  Lots  .  .  .  .  .         .  13 

The  Questiox  of  a  Name    .  .  .  .         .  .14 

Dr.  Dowlixg's  Note      ......  14 

Coxsext  of  Common  Council        .         .         .         .  .14 

Bounds  Established  by  State  Commissioners  .  .  15 

Apportioxmext  of  Shares  .  .  .  .  .  .10 

Organization       .  .  .  .  .  .         .  10 

First  Meeting  of  Stockholders    .  .  .  .  1G 

Names  of  the  Directors  .  .  .  .         .  1G 

First  Meeting  of  the  Board        .  .         .  .  .17 

Proposal  from  Trinity  Church         .         .  .         .  17 


Yiii 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

The  Berg-ex  Tract  and  Sylvan  "Water    .         .         .  .17 

The  Joint-Stock  Principle  given  up  .  .  .  .  18 

Change  of  Constitution  by  Act  op  Legislature  .  .  19 

A  Narrow  Escape         ......  20 

Embarrassments       .  .  .  .  .  .  .21 

Scheemeehorn  Mortgage  .  .  .  .  .  21 

Purchase  of  Two  Hundred  Acres  .  .  .  .22 

Corporation  Seal         ......  22 

Kail  Fence  and  Road        .         .         .         .         .  .23 

Pamphlet  of  Major  Douglass  .....  23 

Green-Wood  begins  to  be  Known  .  .  .  .24 

Extracts  from  Eeport  ......  24 

Bonds  Issued  ........  25 

Forms  of  Subscription  Advertised      ....  25 

Apparent  Indifference  and  Probable  Reasons  .  .  .28 

Xeedless  Apprehensions  .  .  .  .  .  20 

Plan  of  Selling  to  CnuRcnES       .....  27 

Expectation  of  Aid  from  "  Trinity  "  cut  off         .  .  27 

Thomas  Ludlow  Ogdex       ......  28 

regret  axd  coxsolatiox         .....  28 

Discouragements  of  1830    .  .  .  .  .  .  29 

The  First  Monument  of  Green-\Vood  ...  30 

Renewed  Efforts  in  1840  .  .  .  .  .  .31 

The  First  Interment     .  .  .  .  .  .  31 

S.  JST.  Burrill  .......  31 

Resignation  of  Major  Douglass         ....  32 

Another  Unsuccessful  Effort      .  .  .  .  .33 

Zebedee  Cook,  President         .....  33 

A  Crisis  in  Affairs  and  Meeting  of  Trustees  .  .  .33 

Reference  to  Committee  .....  34 

Van  Wagenen's  Report      ......  34 

The  Financial  Situation         .  .  .  .  -        .  34 

Opinion,  Suggestion,  Encouragement       .  .  .  .35 

Schermerhorn  Forecloses  and  offers  to  Sell        .  .  35 

The  Cemetery  is  too  Poor  to  Buy  .  .  .  .  3G 

Green-Wood  Surrounded  by  a  Palisade  Fence       .  .  36 

Saint  Ann's  Church  takes  One  Hundred  Lots  .  .  .37 


CONTENTS.  i-X 

PAGE 

Mr.  Perry  Accepts  the  Management  ....  37 

Public  Meeting  in  Brooklyn,  March,  1842        .  .  .38 

Plan  to  set  Free  One  Hundred  Acres        ...  38 
Subscriptions  Received       ......  38 

Circular  Issued  .......  38 

Purchase  of  the  Scheemerhorn  Property         .  .  .39 

Sale  to  Churches  of  Two  Hundred  Lots     .  .  .  39 

Remarks  in  Note  respecting  those  Sales         .         .  .39 
The  Cemetery  in  Trouble        .....  40 

Praiseworthy  Action  of  Garret  Bergen  .  .  .40 

Opening  of  Cemetery  Advertised       .  .  .  .  41 

Inauguration  Proposed       ......  41 

Superintendent  of  Interments  Appointed     ...  41 
Issue  of  Bonds  Authorized,  Dec,  1842     .  .  .  .42 

The  Prospect  Improving  .....  43 

Fence,  Cottage,  Bell-Tower,  and  Gate  .  .  .  .43 

Visible  Advance  .......  43 

Slender  Means        .......  44 

Mr.  Perry  is  made  Comptroller        ....  44 

Lawn-girt  Hill  Conveyed  ......  44 

Odd-Fellows1  Association        .....  46 

Important  Land  Purchase  ......  40 

De  Witt  Clinton's  Remains     .....  47 

Clinton  Monument  Association    .  .  .  .  .47 

A  Triumphal  Arch  on  Paper  .....  48 

Successful  Effort    .......  48 

Brown's  Statue  of  Clinton     .....  48 

Bay-side  Dell         .......  49 

Restrictions  on  Interments     .  .  .  .  .  50 

New  Arrangement  in  regard  to  Bonds  .  .  .  .50 

Robert  Ray,  President  .  .  .  .  .  .  51 

Vista  Hill  Conveyed  and  Consecrated  .  .  .  .51 

u What's  Hallowed  Ground?'  ....  52 

Evidences  of  Progress  in  184G     .....  53 

Tribute  to  the  Bergens  .  .  .  .  .  53 

William  Augustus  White — Financial  Committee  .  .  53 

Permanent  Surveyor  Chosen    .....  °^ 


X 


CONTENT? 


j  PAGE 

Geeen-Wood  Illusteated    ......  54 

Second  Seeies     .         .         .         .         .         .         .  55 

Teact  Bought  of  the  Beegens  in  1847    .         .         .  .56 

Coloeed  Oephan  Asylum         .  .  .  .  .  56 

Reasons  foe  Opening  a  Westeen  Enteaxce      .         .  .50 
Deixetxg-Shop  Nuisaxce  .         .         .         .         .  57 

Difficulties  of  the  Geoexd         .....  57 

Desceiptiox  of  Buildixgs         .....  57 

Gate  foe  Funeeals  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  5S 

Depaeteee  of  the  Liqeoe-Yexdees      .  .  .         .  58 

Advance  in  Peice  of  Lots  .         .         .         .         .  .58 

New  Rule  in  eegaed  to  Geading       ....  59 

Opeeatiox  of  the  System    ......  59 

Sons  of  Tempeeance      .         .         .         .         .         .  59 

Statistics      ........  60 

Standing  Committee  Empoweeed         .  .  .  .  61 

Statistical  Peoofs  of  Peospeeity  .....  61 

Death  of  Jonathan  Goodhue  .  .  .  .  .  61 

William  H.  Aspinwall  Elected  Teustee  .  .  .  .61 

Be-sueyey  of  Geeen-Wood      .....  62 

Impoetance  of  Accueate  Mapping  ...         .  .62 

Statistics  of  1849  .  .  .  .  .  03 

Wood  Engeayings    .......  63 

Chapel  Hill       .......  63 

New  Bell      .         .         .         .         .         .  63 

Geeen-Wood  Dieectoey  ......  64 

Biogeaphy     ........  64 

Need  of  Guide-Book,  and  Peospect  of  Supply        .         .  64 
Chaxge  rx  Time  of  Axxual  Meeting      .  .  .  .65 

Amexded  Ciiaetee         ......  65 

Doxatioxs  to  Chaeitable  Associatioxs    .  .  ...  65 

Teibute  to  Ma  joe  Douglass     .....  65 

Statistics  of  1850    .......  66 

Appolxtmext  of  Me.  Meewln  as  Examinee     .  .  .  67 

Beseevoie  and  Watee-Woeks        .  .  .  .  .67 

Value  of  the  Impeoyement      .  .  .  .  .  68 

EXTEACT  FEOM  RePOET  ......  69 


CONTEXTS. 


The  Supply  Well  .... 
Buening  of  Well- House 
Appointment  of  Me.  McCoy 
Statistics  of  1851  .... 
Laege  Puechase  and  Laege  Sales 
Statistics  of  1852  .... 
The  Chapel  Peoject  .... 
Bieds  in  Geeen-Wood 

Impoetation  of  Bieds  .... 

Expeelmext  Fails  .... 

Receiving  Tomb  Desceieed 

Its  Advantages  .... 

Amendments  of  the  Chaetee  . 

Maetexse's  Lane  .... 

Statistical  Summary  of  1853  . 

A  CnAPEL  Proposed  .... 

New  Peo visions  in  the  Deeds  . 

Statistical  Account  foe  1854 

Committee  of  Finance  .... 

Plan  of  Chapel  .... 

Tombs  foe  Sale  ..... 

Addition  to  the  Ground 

Statistics  of  1855  .... 

Completion  of  Water  Works 

Aggressions  ..... 

Green- Wood  in  Court 

Statistics  of  1856  .... 

Threats  and  Attempts  to  Injure  . 

Advance  in  Peice  of  Lots 

Statistics  of  1857  .... 

Changes  Required  at  Westeen  Entrance 

Index:  to  Registee  of  Interments  . 

J.  C.  Brevooet  and  A.  A.  Low  Elected  Teustees 

Me.  Sanxay's  Movement 

Statistics  of  1858  .... 
The  Maetense  Geound  Bought 
Alterations  at  Western  Exteaxce 


xii 


CONTENTS. 


TAOE 

Statistics  of  1859    .  .  .  .  .  .  .84 

Removal  of  Difficulties  .....  85 

a  noetheen  enteance      ......  85 

Archway  Completed      ......  85 

Numbered  Section-Posts     ......  85 

The  Teee-Woem  .......  86 

Statistics  of  1860    ...         %.  ...  86 

Annual  Meeting,  and  Contested  Election    ...  86 
Misstatements  .......  86 

One  Thing  Peoyed        ......  88 

The  Opposition  Defeated   .  .  .  .  .  .88 

Complaint  and  Suggestions      .....  88 

Resolve  to  Publish  the  Accounts  .  .  .  .89 

The  Report  a  perfect  Vindication    ....  90 

A  Danger  to  be  Guaeded  Against         «  .  .  .90 

Statement  by  the  Comptroller  ....  90 

Railroad  Stock  and  Bonds  .  .  .  .  .91 

Comptroller's  Proposal  .  .  .  .  .  91 

The  Price  of  Lots  Advanced  in  1861     .  .  .  .92 

Reasons  for  the  Change         .....  92 

compaeison  of  prices  with  other  cemeteries    .         .  .93 
Favorable  Result  of  the  Change     ....  93 

Iron  Fence    ........  93 

Water  from  the  City  Mains    .....  9-1 

A  New  Jet    ........  94 

New  Map  and  Change  of  Names       ....  95 

Peouibition  in  eegaed  to  tiie  Planting  of  Trees        .  .  95 

Quotation  from  Report  .....  95 

Work  at  Northern  Entrance      .  .  .  .  .96 

Statistics  of  1861         ......  96 

Addition  to  the  Ground  in  1862  .  .  .  .  .  97 

Purchase  of  Gravel  Hill        .....  97 

Photographic  Views  ......  97 

Application  from  New  York  City  Council  ...  98 
Free  Interment  for  New  York  Soldiers  .  .  .98 

Death  of  Stephen  Whitney     .  .  .  .  .  99 

Statistics  of  18G2    .......  100 


CONTEXTS. 


xiii 


PAGE 

A  Prosperous  Year                 .          .          .          .          .  101 

Annexation   .          .          .          .          .          .          .  .101 

Chapel  Hill  Brought  into  the  Market      .          .          .  101 

A  Change  of  Views,  and  how  it  Happened      .          .  .  102 

Edifice  Needed  for  Monuments  and  Statuary        .          .  103 

Death  of  Luther  Bradish  .          .          .          .          .  .105 

Election  of  Benjamin  H.  Field         .          .          .          .  105 

Northern  Entrance  Completed     .          .          .          .  .103 

Entrance  Described      ......  100 

Groups  of  Sculpture         .         .         .         .         .  .107 

Porter's  Lodge,  Stable,  Superintendent's  Houss    .          .  108 
Financial  Statement  for  1863     .....  109 

Conclusion         .......  109 

APPENDIX,  PART  1   117 

BATTLE  HILL  AND  THE  BATTLE  OF  BROOKLYN        .  117 

Neglect  and  Forgetfulness  of  the  Battle-Ground  .          .  118 

The  Fact  Accounted  for      .          .          .          .          .  118 

Toryism  on  Long  Island  .  .  .  .  .  .119 

General  Lee  and  Lord  Stirling  .             .          .          .  119 

Washington —Campaign  of  1776           .          .          .          .  119 

Position  and  Extent  of  the  Defences      .          .          .  119 

Landing  of  the  British  Forces  at  New  Utrecht      .          .  120 

The  Fight  near  Gowanus  Bay        .          .          .          .  121 

Lord  Stirling  is  Flanked  and  Defeated       .  .  .121 

The  Old  Cortelyou  House    .          .          .          .          .  121 

Sharp-Shooters  on  Battle  Hill          ....  122 

Revolutionary  Relics  from  the  British  Prison-Ships     .  122 

A  Plea  for  their  Sepulture  and  Honorable  Commemoration  123 

Erroneous  Plans  of  the  Gowanus  Fight  .          .          .  123 

Major  Douglass's  Sketch          .....  123 

The  Defeat  Inevitable,  and  not  Disgraceful      .          .  124 

Invaluable  Lessons  of  Disaster          ....  12o 

THE  KEEPER'S  LODGE— A  Reminiscence    .          .         .  126 

The  Cemetery  Bell.    By  Arthur  Morrell     .          .         .  126 

THE  CLINTON  MONUMENT   128 

VISTA  HILL— Dr.  Farley's  Address      .         .         .  .129 


xiv 


CONTENTS. 


GREENWOOD  PUBLICATIONS 
THE  FOREIGN  BIRDS  . 

The  Chagot  Ground  and  Mount  Washington 

Monsieur  Chagot,  a  Benefactor         .  . 
TREES  AND  SHRUBBERY  . 

The  Native  Growth  of  Green- Wood  . 

The  Tendency  to  an  Excess  of  Foliage  . 

Chestnuts  and  Weeping-Willows 

The  Norway  Spruce  .... 

Too  Much  Shade — An  Evil  to  be  Checked 
FLOWERS  

Quotation  from  Loudon  . 

Quotation  from  the  "Hints" 
MODES  OF  INTERMENT 

Embalming,  Burning,  Entombing,  and  Interring 

Reasons  foe  Preferring  the  Tomb 

The  Argument  foe  Interment 

Extract  from  the  "Hints" 

The  Tomb  Facilities  of  Green- Yv'ood 
INCLOSURES  IN  CEMETERIES 

The  Fence  considered  aesthetically 

Good  Specimens  in  Gbeen-Wood 

Exception  to  the  Rule.    (See  Note) 

Objections  to  the  Iron  Fence  . 

Quick-Set  Hedges 

The  Curb-Stone 

Doubts  in  regard  to  General  Effect 
INSCRIPTIONS  ON  MONUMENTS 

The  Disuse  of  Epitaphs  Accounted  foe  and  Regretted 

The  Early  Monuments  of  Green-TFood 

Suggestion  of  a  Monumental  Chapel 

A  Fear  which  nAs  not  been  Realized 

"Epitaphs" — A  Passage  from  the  "Hints" 
REGISTER  OF  INTERMENTS  .... 
THE  ORIGINAL  ENTRANCE  (from  "  Green- Wood  Illustrated 
THE  SUPERINTENDENTS,  Sceimgeour,  Birrell,  Gamgee 

The  Operatives  and  their  Work 


CONTENTS.  xv 

PAGF 

John  O'Shaughnessy       ......  153 

THE  SURVEYOR— Boyle.  Wells  ...  153 

Cemetery  Map      .......  154 

APPENDIX,  PART  IL  155 

David  Bates  Douglass     ......  155 

Gaeeet  Beegex  ......  156 

Thomas  Ludlow  Ogden    ......  157 

Jonathan  Goodhue     ......  158 

Geebit  G.  Van  Wagenen  .  .         .         .  .159 

Geoege  Geiswold        ......  161 

Alonzo  G.  Hammond       .         .         .         .  .  .162 

William  Shepaed  Wetmoee  .  .         .  .  .  163 

Stephen  Whitney  .  .  .  .  .  .  .164 

Luthee  Beadish  ......  165 

APPESTDIX,  PART  III  167 

Memorial  to  the  Legislature         ....  167 

Act  of  Incorporation     .  .  .  .  .  .169 

Action  of  Brooklyn  Common  Council       .         .         .  171 
Report  of  the  Commissioners    .  .  .  .  .173 

The  Appraisement      .  .  .  .  .  .  174 

Land-Owners'  Ageeement  .....  174 

Memoeial  to  the  Legislatuee         .  .  .  .  176 

Action  of  Beooklyn  Common  Council  .         .         .  .178 

Amendments  of  Chaetee  (Passed  1839)     .  .  .  178 

Fiest  Adyeetisement  foe  Suesceiption  ....  181 

Public  Meeting  in  Beooklyn  .  .  .  .  182 

Cieculae  of  Cook  and  Smith    .....  183 

Amendments  of  Chaetee  (Passed  1846)      .  .  .  184 

Amendments  of  Chaetee  (Passed  1850)  .  .         .  185 

Amendments  of  Chaetee  (Passed  1853)      .         .  .  186 

conteibutoes  to  the  clinton  monument        .  ,  .  188 

COEPOEATOES,   TeUSTEES,   OfFICEES,  AND  ASSISTANTS  .  190 

Offices  of  the  Cemetery  in  Xew  York         .  .  .195 

List  of  Centenarians  Buried  in  Green-Wood      .  .  195 

Monuments  and  Tombs    .  .  .  .  .  .196 

% 


CONTENTS. 


PAGB 


Correspondence — President  Ray  and  Governor  Morgan  107 
By-Laws    .  .  .  .  .  *  .  .198 

Annual  Sales  of  Lots  .  .  .  .  .  201 

Prices  of  Lots      .......  202 

Annual  Receipts  for  Sales  .  .  .  .  .  203 

Annual  Xumbee  of  Interments  .....  204 

Annual  Receipts  on  Account  of  Public  Lots      .  .  205 

Annual  Receipts  for  Opening  Graves  and  Vaults  .  .  206 

Total  Annual  Receipts        .....  207 

Annual  Expenditure  for  Labor.  .  .  .  .208 

xVnnual  Expenditure  for  Improvements     .  .  .  209 

Annual  Expenditure  for  Contingencies         .  .  .210 

Total  Annual  Expenditure  .  .  .  .  .  211 

Total  Receipts  and  Expenditures        ....  212 

Cemetery  Buildings    .  .  .  .  .  .  213 

Avenues,  Paths,  Hills,  Dells,  and  Lakes      .  .         .  215 


HISTORY 

OF 

GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


Twenty-six  years  have  passed  since  Green-Wood 
Cemetery  entered  upon  its  corporate  existence.  From 
a  feeble  beginning,  and  through  a  hard  struggle,  Ear]y 
which  seemed,  for  a  time,  to  be  of  doubtful  issue,  it  dlfficultlC3- 
passed  at  length  to  a  secure  position,  and  started  on 
a  career  of  eminent  success.  Yery  few  of  the  multi- 
tudes who  visit  those  attractive  grounds — very  few 
even  of  those  who  have  a  proprietary  interest  in 
Green-Wood — know  any  thing  of  the  difficulties 
which  beset  its  early  steps,  and  which,  but  for  the 
faith  and  perseverance  of  a  few  individuals,  would 
have  proved  fatal  to  the  undertaking.  It  is  certain, 
also,  that  the  motive  which  prompted  this  effort,  and 
the  spirit  which  has  animated  it  throughout,  have  not  a  history  of 

Green-Wood 

always  been  fully  understood  or  duly  appreciated,  needed. 
Although  the  conduct  of  the  institution  has  com- 
manded almost  universal  satisfaction,  still  complaints 
have  sometimes  appeared,  which,  if  made  honestly, 
could  proceed  only  from  ignorance  of  the  principles 
that  govern  the  management,  or  of  the  reasons  that 
led  to  particular  measures. 

3 


6 


GEEEX-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


In  view  of  these  considerations,  and  of  others  which 
will  readily  suggest  themselves,  the  time  seems  favor- 
Thc  time    able  f°r  laJmg  before  the  lot-owners  of  Green- Wood, 
f.noiabie.  ^  ^0  ^  interested  in  its  welfare,  a  history 

of  the  institution.  Its  facts  will  be  derived  from  the 
records  and  files  of  the  corporation,  and  from  state- 
ments, both  oral  and  written,  of  gentlemen  who  have 
been  connected  with  the  enterprise  from  the  very 
first.  It  will  show,  if  I  mistake  not,  that  the  purpose 
of  the  institution  was  purely  philanthropic,  and  that 
it  has  uniformly  been  conducted  with  disinterested 
fidelity.  It  can  hardly  fail  to  deepen  the  interest 
already  felt  in  Green-Wood,  and  to  strengthen  that 
confidence  in  its  future  which  a  judicious  and  ener- 
getic management  has  so  generally  inspired. 

The  idea  of  a  rural  cemetery  in  this  country  was 
first  developed  in  Boston.    Crude  conceptions  of  such 
an  institution  may  have  existed  elsewhere  and  earlier  ; 
Mount  Au-  but  to  Mount  Auburn  will  ever  belong  the  praise  of 

burn  Ccme- 

earI"63T.ind"  having  led  the  way  in  a  much-needed  reform.  That 
cemetery  dates  from  1831,  and  its  distinguished  foun- 
der, Jacob  Bigelow,  still  lives,  and  still  presides  over 
the  successful  institution,  which  has  been  so  long  the 
object  of  his  care. 

In  1832,  Mr.  Hexey  E.  Pieekepoxt,  of  Brooklyn, 
returned  from  a  visit  to  the  new  cemetery  at  Cam- 
bridge, with  the  desire  awakened  that  iSfew  York  and 
Brooklyn  should  have  a  similar  establishment,  com- 
mensurate with  their  wants,  and  not  unworthy  of 


GEEEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


7 


their  greatness.  The  wooded  heights  of  Gowanus,  ^H£°wa" 
with  which  he  had  been  familiar  from  a  boy,  occurred 
to  him  as  a  site  peculiarly  favorable.  During  the 
following  year,  though  absent  from  the  country,  his 
incipient  purpose  gathered  strength  while  visiting 
the  cemeteries  and  campos  santos  of  Europe.  On 
his  return  he  found  that  Brooklyn,  his  native  vil- 
lage, was  about  to  take  rank  amon^  the  cities  of 
the  land — an  event  which  occurred  in  1834.  In  the 
following  spring,  Mr.  Pleeeepoxt  was  placed,  by  the 
citizens  of  Brooklyn,  on  a  commission  to  lay  out  the 
new  city  in  streets.    It  was  while  performing  this  Su^estion 

w  of  Mr.  Pierre- 

dllty  that  he  first  brought  forward  his  plan  for  reserv-  Pont- 

ing,  among  the  Gowanus  Hills,  a  large  tract  for  a 
cemetery.  Ground,  lying  north  of  the  present  Green- 
Wood,  and  known  as  the  Berry  and  Yan  Brunt 
Farms,  first  attracted  his  attention ;  but  the  owners 
were  not  ready  to  treat  for  their  sale.  The  lands 
lower  down,  and  nearer  to  the  Bay,  had  been  pur- 
chased with  a  view  to  disposal  in  city  lots,  and  were, 
therefore,  regarded  as  out  of  the  question. 

At  the  time  referred  to,  Major  David  B.  Doug- 
lass, previously  an  officer  of  the  United  States 
Army,  and  an  engineer  of  high  reputation,  was  re- 
siding in  Brooklyn,  having  just  completed  the  pre- 
liminary surveys  for  the  Croton  water-works,  and 
also  the  location  of  the  Brooklyn  and  Jamaica  rail- 
road.   In  the  autumn  of  1835,  Major  Douglass  srnve  Lecture  of 

°         Major  Doug- 

a  public  lecture  in  Brooklyn,  on  the  capabilities Iass< 


8 


GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


Hints  ^      and  prospects  of  the  young  and  rising  city.  Mr. 

Pierrepoxt,  to  whom  he  applied  for  hints  on  the 
occasion,  suggested  the  idea  of  a  large  rural  ceme- 
tery, with  an  astronomical  observatory  on  the 
grounds.  The  Major  accepted  the  suggestion.  The 
objections  to  interment  in  city  vaults  and  crowded 
church-yards  were  undoubtedly  well  put,  while  the 
admirable  fitness  of  the  Gowanus  grounds  for  ceme- 
tery purposes  could  have  been  shown  by  no  one 
more  competent.  This  is  believed  to  have  been  the 
first  public  presentation  that  was  made  of  the  subject. 


Financial 


So  far  as  it  appears,  this  effort  to  impress  the  com- 
munity with  the  need  and  value  of  a  rural  cemetery 
produced  no  visible  result,  xlnother  year,  with  its 
1887?  ^  deceitful  flush  of  hollow  prosperity,  passed  away, 
and  was  succeeded  by  the  relapse  of  1837.  The  dis- 
asters of  that  year,  and  the  change  which  came  over 
the  prospects  of  dealers  in  real  estate,  revived  the 
project  of  the  cemetery.  There  was  now  a  possi- 
bility of  obtaining  the  Gowanus  lands  at  prices  within 
the  bounds  of  reason.  The  larger  owners  of  the 
property,  some  of  whom  had  already  shown  a  warm 
interest  in  the  cemetery  project,  were  found  willing 


to  negotiate. 


GREEX-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


9 


1838. 

Mr.  Pierrepoxt,  with  the  efficient  aid  of  Major  1838. 
Douglass,  explored  the  ground,  selected  the  portion  Thegro^a 
which  seemed  best  suited  to  the  purpose,  and  mapped  mapped, 
the  same,  with  the  names  of  all  the  proprietors.  The 
aspect  of  the  affair  was  now  deemed  sufficiently  en- 
couraging to  justify  the  formation  of  a  company  to 
carry  out  the  design.    A  petition  to  the  Legislature, 
in  the  winter  of  1838,  was  followed  by  an  Act  of  In- 
corporation, passed  on  the  11th  of  April  in  that 

year.*    It  created  a  joint-stock  corporation,  under  The  com- 
pany incor- 

the  name  of  u  The  Greex- Wood  Cemetery,"  with  a  p°r*ted- 
capital  of  three  hundred  thousand  dollars,  and  the 
right  to  hold  two  hundred  acres  of  land.    By  the  Act, 
the  petitioners  were  made  Commissioners  to  receive 
subscriptions.    These  pioneers  of  the  great  enterprise 
were  Samuel  Ward,  John  P.  Stagg,  Charles  King,  JJfgJSnto. 
David  B.  Douglass,  Bussell  Stebblxs,  Joseph  A.  610ncrs- 
Perry,  Henry  E.  Pierrepoxt,  and  Pltxy  Freemax. 
Of  these  gentlemen,  Mr.  Ward,  long  known  as  an 
eminent  New  York  banker,  and  still  more  distin- 
guished as  a  public-spirited  citizen,  died  27th  No- 
vember, 1839.    The  decease  of  Mi*.  Stagg,  a  highly 
respectable  merchant  of  New  York,  occurred  October 
1,  1819.    Major  Douglass,  whose  name  will  often 
occur  in  this  narrative,  died  October  21,  1819. 

*  See  Appendix,  Part  Third,  Xo.  L 


10 


GEEEN-WOOD  CEMETEET. 


1§3§.       The  remaining  five  are  still  here  to  witness  the 
v     '  success  of  their  enterprise — a  success  which  has  trans- 
cended, probably,  their  early  expectations,  however 
high. 

kcteddse"      ^e  ground  which  was  finally  selected  by  Mr. 

Pieeeepoxt  and  Major  Douglass,  with  the  approval 
of  their  associates,  as  best  suited  to  their  purpose, 
lies  a  little  back  of  the  Gowanus  Bay.  It  extends, 
as  marked  on  the  city  map,  from  Twenty-first  street 
to  Thirty-fourth  street,  and  from  the  Fifth  Avenue  to 
the  Brooklyn  city  line. 


Meeting  of 
the  land- 


As  a  step  preliminary  to  further  action,  a  meeting 
owners.  Q£  ^Q  lauc]_owners  (twenty-seven  in  number)  was 
called  in  Brooklyn,  and  the  cemetery  project  was  laid 
before  them.  It  was  proposed  that  they  should  sell, 
at  a  fair  valuation,  such  portions  of  their  land  as 
might  come  within  the  bounds  of  the  cemetery.  To 
this  proposal  a  majority  of  the  owners,  including 
those  who  held  the  largest  interest,  gave  their  assent. 
The  agreement  between  the  proprietors  and  the  com- 
missioners was  signed  June  28, 1838.  See  Appendix, 
Part  Third,  Xo.  V.  The  board  of  appraisers  author- 
ized by  that  agreement  to  fix  the  prices  of  the  lands, 
were  Mr.  C.  P.  Smith,  Mr.  H.  E.  Pieeeepoxt,  Major 
Douglass,  and  Judge  Haaeaioxd.  According  to  their 
appraisement,  dated  September  24,  1838,  there  were 
The  land     one  hundred  and  seventy-eight  acres  of  land,  valued 

appraised. 

at  §134,075.50,  being  an  average  per  acre  of  $i  56.60. 


GREEN-WOOD  CEMETEKT. 


11 


As  tlie  tract  contained  two  thousand  one  hundred  and  I83§. 
forty-five  city  lots,  the  average  price  per  lot  was 
$62.75.  For  an  abstract  of  this  appraisement,  giving 
the  quantity  and  the  prices  of  land  for  each  of  the 
five  farms,  see  Appendix,  Part  Third,  No.  IY.  It 
is  proper  to  remark  here,  that  in  the  final  arrange- 
ments with  the  owners,  the  average  cost  of  the 
ground  was  a  good  deal  below  that  which  was  named 
by  the  appraisers.  The  owners  of  this  property 
agreed  to  receive  their  pay  in  cemetery  stock. 

The  land  thus  purchased  had  belonged  for  several 
generations  to  the  Bennett,  Bergen,  and  Wyckoff  Original 

0  '  owners. 

families,  and  had  stood  in  these  names  from  the 
first  settlement  of  the  country  by  their  Dutch  pro- 
genitors. From  time  immemorial  it  had  been  the 
outlying  pasture-ground  and  woodland  of  substantial 
farmers,  whose  houses  and  homesteads  were  near 
the  shore.  During  the  first  two  hundred  years  of 
this  occupancy,  it  must  have  been  a  quiet  spot, 
varied  only  by  such  sights  and  sounds  as  occa- 
sionally invade  the  pastoral  or  the  sylvan  scene. 
There  was,  however,  one  memorable  exception.    In  Historical 

associatior 

the  Battle  of  Long  Island,  August  26, 1776,  the  con-  1773 
flict  raged  for  a  spell  on  and  near  these  very  grounds. 
For  all  that  is  known  in  regard  to  the  matter,  the 
reader  is  referred  to  a  paper  in  the  Appendix,  Part 
First,  No.  I.  It  was  prepared  in  1846,  for  "  Green- 
Wood  Illustrated,"  after  much  examination  and  in- 
quiry.   On  one  occasion  I  went  over  the  ground  with 


12 


GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


1§3§.  Major  Douglass.  The  excavations  and  gradings 
which  have  so  transformed  the  aspect  of  Gowanus, 
had  then  scarcely  begun.  We  stood  upon  the  hill- 
side where  Lord  Stirling  posted  a  part  of  his  force, 
and  traced  the  old  wall  and  hedge  which  formed  their 
temporary  and  frail  barricade.  From  this  spot  that 
accomplished  officer  and  engineer  pointed  out  to  me 
what  he  believed  to  have  been  the  position  and  move- 
ments of  the  contending  forces,  and  the  probable 
localities  of  the  conflict.  Of  the  scene  on  which  we 
then  looked,  the  swells  and  slopes  of  Green-"Wood, 
and  the  bright  waters  of  the  bay,  are  almost  the  only 
features  that  remain  unchanged. 

c.owanns  in     The  staid  farmers  of  Gowanns,  whose  patriotism 

Revolution- 
ary times.   does  not  seem  to  have  been  of  the  irrepressible  sort, 

went  comfortably  through  the  .seven  years  of  Revolu- 
tion, in  spite  of  British  and  Hessian  soldiers  quar- 
tered among  and  around  them.  "When  peace  and 
prosperity  returned,  they  just  kept  on  in  the  old 
way,  and  on  the  ground  where  myriads  of  the  dead 
now  repose,  they  still  gathered  their  winter  fuel,  or 
drove  their  cows  to  pasture.  For  these  back  lands 
there  was  no  demand,  as  they  were  considered  un- 
healthy and  unfit  to  live  on. 

But  the  advancing  waves  of  population  and  of 
speculation  at  length  reached  Gowanus,  and  the 
temptation  of  high  prices  proved  too  much  even  for 
Dutch  tenacity.    The  purchases  above  referred  to 


Showing  the  Original 
Owners  of  theXand. 


'///,  (fatted  tines  show  tin  boundaries  of 
tlu  Cemetery  as  first  enclosed. 
Total ,  \o  of. /civs  f/ / O 
Mi  oOO/al  (o/uu/t. 

Snya»r,BUcic*  Stunv.92  WHi>raSt.N.T. 


GBEEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


13 


were  made  in  1836.  A  reference  to  the  Property  1836. 
Map  will  show  the  relative  size  and  position  of  the  Reference 

.  ,    ,      to  property 

different  pieces  included  in  the  appraisement,  and  also  map. 
the  original  ownership. 

The  northwestern  portion  of  the  ground,  formerly 
a  part  of  the  Dean,  the  Bennett,  and  Winant  Ben- 
nett farms,  had  been  laid  out  and  sold  in  city  lots, 
and  had  thus  fallen  into  numerous  hands.  It  con- 
tained the  highest  point  in  the  whole  range  of  hills, 
and  its  retention  was  thought  to  he  very  desirable. 
It  became,  however,  a  source  of  infinite  vexation. 
Several  of  those  who  held  the  small  lots  took  advan- 
tage of  their  position,  and  demanded  prices  far  above 
the  appraisement.  The  exorbitant  demands  were  Exorbita 
long  resisted.  Some  of  the  small  proprietors  held 
out  for  years,  and  one  of  them,  as  may  be  seen  by 
reference  to  the  map,  holds  out  still.* 


demands. 


*  The  ground  alluded  to  is  a  narrow  strip  occupying  a  part  of  Sec- 
tions 112,  113,  and  114,  with  a  small  privilege  in  Meadow  Water.  It 
consists  of  twenty  gores  or  fractions  of  lots,  equal  in  area  to  fifteen 
full  lots.  The  land  has  been  several  times  appraised  at  its  full  value, 
and  more  than  twice  that  amount  has  often  been  offered  for  it  by  tbe 
cemetery.  But  the  extortionate  demands  of  blinded  avarice  have 
remained  unabated.  After  many  frustrated  attempts,  and  a  long  ex- 
perience of  annoyance  and  menace,  the  trustees  decided  to  complete 
the  cemetery  enclosure  without  reference  to  the  Chagot  tract,  leaving, 
however,  a  way  of  access  to  it.  During  the  entire  existence  of  the 
cemetery  this  malicious  intrusion  has  been  an  irritating  thorn  in  its 
side.  It  is  pleasant  to  state  that  this  evil  is  at  last  removed.  Within 
the  present  month  (June,  1864)  arrangements  have  been  made  which 
give  to  the  cemetery  absolute  possession  and  uncpuestioned  occu- 
pancy of  the  Chagot  lots.  For  further  remarks  in  regard  to  this 
matter,  see  Appendix,  Part  First,  Xo.  VII. 
4 


n 


GEEEX-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


l§3§.  When  the  question  of  a  name  for  the  proposed  in- 
The  qucs-  stitution  came  up  for  consideration,  various  candi- 
name.  ,l  dates  for  the  honor  were  presented.  Kot  a  few  were 
desirous,  as  we  learn  from  Major  Douglass,  that  it 
should  be  called  the  Necropolis.  But  this  word, 
however  classical  and  ancient,  conveys  an  idea  of 
city  form  and  show,  which  the  founders  of  the  ceme- 
tery were  particularly  anxious  to  avoid.  They  fixed 
upon  the  pleasing  and  unpretending  name  which  it 
bears,  as  appropriate  to  its  wood-crowned  heights, 
and  as  indicating  that  it  should  always  remain  a  scene 
of  rural  quiet,  and  beauty,  and  leanness,  and  ver- 
dure." 

By  the  terms  of  charter,  the  corporation  could 
acquire  and  hold  lands  for  the  proposed  cemetery 
only  "by  and  with  the  consent  of  the  Mayor  and 
Common  Council  of  the  City  of  Brooklyn."  A  peti- 
tion for  such  consent,  dated  August  6,  1838,  and 
consent  of  signed  by  D.  B.  Douglass,  H.  E.  Pieeeepoxt,  and 

Brooklyn 

K.  Stebbixs,  was  presented  to  the  Common  Council, 
and  received  their  immediate  and  unanimous  assent. 
See  Appendix,  Part  Third,  ~No.  II.  This  impor- 
tant act  confirmed  and  made  fast  the  previous  doings 

*  For  the  following  learned  note  on  the  word  "  cemetery,"  we  are 
indebted  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Dowling :  "  The  term  was  earlv  applied  to 
Christian  places  of  burial.  Chiwsostom,  in  the  fourth  century,  thus 
gives  the  reason :  Am  rovro  nai  avrog  b  tottoc  KOIMHTH- 
PION  <ovo[iaarai,  Iva  /xaO^g  on  bi  rere^EVTrjuore^  nat 
evravOa  kel\xevoi  ov  TcOvrjKaoiv,  aXXa  KOifiuvrai.  For  this 
reason  this  place  is  called  a  cemetery,  in  order  that  you  may  learn  that 
those  who  have  finished  their  course  and  are  laid  there  are  not  dead,  but 
sleep." — Cypress  Hills'1  Cemetery  Pamphlet. 


Common 
Council. 


GREEX-W00D  CEMETERY. 


15 


of  the  State  Legislature.  The  resolution  was  offered  1§3§. 
by  Mr.  Joseph  A.  Perry,  then  of  the  Board  of  Al- 
dermen, and  is  as  follows :  "  Resolved,  That  the 
prayer  of  the  memorialists  be  granted ;  and  that  the 
Commissioners  of  the  GreenAVood  Cemetery  be 
hereby  authorized  to  purchase  and  lay  out,  for  the 
purposes  of  a  Cemetery,  the  ground  required  for  such 
purposes,  not  exceeding  two  hundred  acres,  within 
the  limits  designated  in  the  memorial.  On  motion, 
it  was  voted  that  the  above  resolution  be  adopted." 
In  accordance  with  these  expressions  of  legislative 
and  municipal  will,  the  State  Commissioners  for  lay- 
ing out  the  city  of  Brooklyn  proceeded,  in  concert 
with  the  projectors  of  the  cemetery,  to  establish  the  Bounds  es- 

.        .  tablishcd  b; 

bounds  of  the  latter,  and  to  define  its  limits  on  the  state 

»  Couinm- 

city  map.  Appendix,  Part  Third,  No.  IJL  is  an  ex- hioncra- 
tract  from  the  official  report  of  the  commissioners,  and 
gives  the  precise  outline  of  the  cemetery  as  at  that  time 
established.  This  description,  with  the  exception  of 
the  northwestern  corner,  will  be  found  to  compare 
with  the  dotted  outline  on  the  Property  Map.  This 
concluding  act  of  the  commissioners  gave  to  Green- 
"Wood  not  only  position,  but  security,  for  it  declared 
that  "  all  streets  and  avenues  which  have  been 
described  as  running  through  the  above  ground,  are 
to  terminate  at  its  line."*    In  this  guarantee  against 

*  A  single  exception  was  made,  in  favor  of  Hammond  Avenue. 
This,  in  the  plan  of  the  Citizens'  Committee  referred  to  above,  was  a 
straight  road,  running  from  the  City  Hall  to  Xew  Utrecht.  It  was 
afterwards  discontinued  by  legislative  action,  fortunately  for  Green- 
Wood,  as  it  would  have  bisected  it  diagonally. 


16 


GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


1§3S.  invasion  and  disturbance,  more  firmly  established 
*  Y  ;  by  legislative  amendments  passed  in  1853,  a  guaran- 
tee which,  of  all  the  cemeteries  around  New  York, 
Green-Wood  alone  can  be  said  fully  to  possess,  its 
proprietors  may  find  their  best  assurance  that  they 
and  their  kindred  will  there  be  permitted  to  rest  in 
peace. 

The  books  for  subscription  were  opened  on  the  3d 
roeEtof"1"  °^  November,  1838,  and  the  three  thousand  shares 
shares.      were  apportioned  by  the  Commissioners. 


ORGANIZATION. 


Firstmeet-     After  due  le^al  notice,  the  first  meeting  of  the 

ing  01  the  o 
stockhold- 


ers. 


stockholders  was  held  November  24,  1838,  at  the 
office  of  Messrs.  Le  Roy  and  Perry,  in  Hanover 
street.  The  following  is  a  list  of  the  Directors  cho- 
sen at  that  meeting :  Jonathan  Goodhue,  Stephen 
Whitney,  Robert  Ray,  Thomas  Ludlow  Ogden, 
Charles  King,  Peter  Schermerhorn,  Jacob  R.  Le 
Roy,  Russell  Stebbins,  Pllny  Freeman,  David  B. 
Douglass,  A.  G.  Hammond,  Daniel  Embury,  Geo. 
S.  Howl  and,  Henry  E.  Pieerepont,  Joseph  A. 
Perry.  Of  these,  Messrs.  Goodhue,  Whitney, 
Ogclen,  Schermerhorn,  Douglass,  Hammond,  and 
Embury,  have  paid  the  debt  of  nature,  and,  with  the 
exception  of  Mr.  Ogden,  are  now  at  rest  in  Green- 
Wood. 


GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


17 


The  Directors  came  together,  for  the  first  time,  on  1§3§. 
the  8th  of  December.    This  appears  to  have  been  F7.st 
an  informal  meeting,  for  conversation  only.    Their  b<L°c[  the 
first  regular  and  organized  meeting  was  held  at  the 
office  of  S.  C.  Williams,  Esq.,  on  the  15th  of  Decem- 
ber.   Judge  Hammond  was  chairman,  Mr.  Pierre- 
pont  was   secretary.    A  committee,  consisting  of 
Messrs.  Douglass,  Pierrepont,  and  Howland,  was 
appointed  to  nominate  officers,  to  report  on  altera- 
tions in  the  charter,  to  confer  with  land-holders,  and 
get  their  terms. 

A  proposition  came,  about  this  time,  from  Trinity  ^P(gjni. 
Church,  in  New  York,  for  the  purchase  of  twenty  cbmch- 
acres  in  Green-Wood,  leading  to  considerable  corre- 
spondence, and  to  several  conferences.  The  result  will 
appear  hereafter. 

In  the  original  plan,  and  in  the  actual  appraise- 
ment, the  southern  line  of  the  Schermerhorn  proper- 
ty was  also  the  southern  line  of  the  cemetery.    One  The  Bergeu 

J  J  Tract  and 

day,  as  Mr.  Pierrepont  and  Major  Douglass  were  ^rh'an  ^ a" 
exploring  the  ground,  the  former  recalled  the  memo- 
ry of  a  secluded  pond  which  he  had  known  in  the 
sporting  days  of  boyhood.  After  several  fruitless 
inquiries,  and  a  long,  devious  tramp,  they  came 
suddenly  upon  it,  almost  hidden  as  it  was  then  in  the 
deep  dell,  and  by  a  wall  of  the  densest  foliage. 
Charmed  with  its  beauty  and  its  capabilities,  they 
resolved  that  it  should  be  brought  within  the  lines  of 


18 


GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


1§38.  the  cemetery.  With  this  in  view,  they  called  on  the 
Y  owner,  Mr.  Garret  Bergen.  The  honest  old  farmer 
found  it  hard  to  believe  that  they  really  wanted  two 

Mr.  Bergen,  hundred  or  three  hundred  acres  for  a  burying-ground  ; 
and  as  to  the  "  collect,"  he  could  not  conceive  any 
possible  use  they  would  have  for  that.  He  acknowl- 
edged, however,  that  the  ground,  on  which  nobody 
had  been  able  to  live,  might  do  well  enough  for 
the  dead.  After  some  attempted  reservations,  he 
consented  to  sell  unconditionally.  And  thus  was 
added  to  Green-Wood  that  invaluable  portion  of 
its  territory  known  as  the  Bergen  Tract,  together 
with  Sylvan  Water,  its  brightest  gem.  The  con- 
tract for  thirty-three  acres  was  signed  December  29, 


At  the  adjourned  meeting,  December  20,  the  com- 
mittee reported  that  there  were  upon  the  high  ground 
at  Gowanus,  from  one  hundred  and  fifty  to  two  hun- 
dred acres  of  land,  belonging  to  the  Wyckoff,  Ibbot- 
son,  Dean,  Sackett,*  Schermerhorn,  and  Bergen 
farms,  which  they  considered  "  eminently  favorable  to 
the  object  in  view,"  and  that  the  same  could  be  had 
at  an  average  not  exceeding  seven  hundred  dollars 
the  acre.    On  their  proposal  to  purchase  the  land, 


remain  proprietors  of  its  stock.    To  remove  from  the 


1838. 


abandoning 


Reasons  for  the  committee  ascertained  that  many  of  the  owners 


*  Jbbotson,  Dean,  and  Sackett  were  not  original  owners,  but  had 
bought  their  lands  from  C.  W.  Bennett  and  Winant  Bennett. 


GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


19 


enterprise  all  ideas  and  motives  of  private  gain,  by  l§3§. 
making  it  a  general  trust,  was  not  only  more  consist-  *  Y 
ent  with  the  character  and  purpose  of  a  cemetery, 
but  had  been  the  original  design  of  the  projectors. 
The  joint-stock  principle  had  been  adopted,  under  the 
impression  that  in  no  other  way  could  the  requisite 
funds  be  raised.  As  this  notion  was  no  longer  tena- 
ble, the  committee  advised  the  change  as  much  to  be 
desired.  It  would  prevent  a  conflict  of  interest  be- 
tween lot-owners  and  stockholders — would  simplify 
the  management  and  police  of  the  cemetery — and 
would  secure  public  confidence  in  the  undertaking,  by 
removing  from  it  all  appearance  of  aims  at  private 
advantage. 

In  accordance  with  these  views,  the  Board  voted  to 
petition  the  Legislature  for  such  an  alteration  of 
their  charter  as  should  carry  the  views  into  effect. 
The  requisite  steps  were  taken,  and  the  "  Act  to  alter  Constitntion 

changed  by 

and  amend,"  etc.,  was  passed  on  the  11th  of  April,  ^ishuUc' 
1839.  That  act  changed  the  Directors  into  Trustees, 
and  placed  the  institution  on  its  present  liberal  and 
unexceptionable  basis.  For  the  Directors'  Memorial, 
the  Resolve  of  the  Brooklyn  Common  Council,  and 
the  amended  Act,  see  Appendix,  Part  Third,  !No. 
VI. 

The  committee  on  lands  was  empowered  to 
conclude  the  purchase  on  the  terms  reported. 
The  same  committee  was  directed  to  confer  with 


20 


GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


S§3§.  religious  societies  in  ~New  York  and  Brooklyn,  in 
'     *     '  regard  to  their  taking  an  interest  in  the  cemetery 
grounds. 

To  secure  in  the  new  city  map  such  an  insertion  of 
the  cemetery  bounds  as  the  law  required,  and  to  pre- 
vent the  streets  which  those  lines  intersected  from 
passing  through  the  grounds,  it  was  absolutely 
necessary  that  an  outline  plan  of  the  selected  terri- 
tory should  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  City  Com- 
missioners before  the  first  of  January,  1839.  Diffi- 
culties which  occurred  in  making  final  arrangements 
respecting  the  land,  and  which  continued  until  near 
the  close  of  the  year,  caused  no  little  anxiety  lest  the 
opportunity  should  pass  by,  and  the  cemetery  should 
fail  for  want  of  compliance  with  the  law.  It  was 
a  nanow    only  by  unremitted  exertion,  and  at  the  very  last  hour, 


that  the  plan  was  deposited  with  the  Commissioners, 
thus  insuring  for  it  a  legally  authorized  place  on  the 
map  of  the  city,  with  fixed  metes  and  bounds,  over 
which  no  street  could  afterwards  pass.* 


escape. 


*  For  its  happy  deliverance  from  this  danger,  the  cemetery  is 
mainly  indebted  to  the  energy  and  industry  of  Mr.  Henry  E. 

PlERREPONT. 


GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


21 


1839. 

Sucn,  in  brief,  as  it  stands  on  the  record,  was  the  1839. 

official  action  of  the  Green-"Wood  Cemetery,  during  Y"~ 

the  first  year  of  its  existence.    For  all  that  appears 

here,  the  current  of  its  affairs  ran  smoothly,  and  left 

to  the  managers  an  easy  task.    Yery  far  from  this  was 

the  reality.    Difficulties  met  them  at  the  very  outset,  Embarrass- 
ments. 

and,  for  a  long  tune,  seemed  to  accumulate  rather 
than  diminish.  There  were  the  holders  of  small  lots, 
who  demanded  unreasonable  prices,  to  be  visited  and 
reasoned  with  individually — and  who  were  thus  vis- 
ited, some  of  them  many  times.  There  were  the 
encumbrances  on  the  larger  parcels,  which  must  be 
removed  before  the  company  could  deed  a  single  rood 
for  burial  purposes.  The  recent  holders  of  the  prop- 
erty had  in  good  faith  contracted  to  pay .  off  the 
mortgages,  and  tried  to  do  so.  In  this  they  were 
foiled,  not  only  by  the  scarcity  of  money,  but  by  the 
unaccommodating  course  of  some  of  the  mortgagees. 
In  their  attempts  to  overcome  these  obstacles,  the 
committee  on  lands  made  many  weary  visits,  and 
spent  much  breath,  to  little  purpose.  The  chief  diffi- 
culty of  this  sort  related  to  the  Schermerhorn  prop-  schermer- 
erty,  wmich  was  held  by  a  number  oi  partners,  who,  gage- 
finding  themselves  unable  to  pay  the  whole  mortgage, 
proposed  to  release  that  part  which  had  been  sold  to 
the  cemetery.  To  this  Abraham  Schermerhorn,  the 
mortgagee,  would  not  consent,  demanding  all  or 

5 


22 


GEEEX-WOOD  CE1TETEEY. 


1§39.   none.    This  trouble,  as  I  learn  from  Mr.  Pierrepont's 
v     Y     '  diary  of  the  time,  made  its  appearance  before  the 
close  of  1838,  and,  by  its  threatening  aspect  and 
obstinate  character,  caused  even  then  an  anxious  fear 
lest  the  whole  project  should  fall  through. 

Upon  the  9th  of  January  the  Board  again  met. 
Major  Douglass,  on  behalf  of  the  land  committee, 
Two  hnn-  reported  that  they  had  purchased  the  larger  part  of  a 
purchased,  tract  of  two  hundred  acres,  the  boundaries  of  which 
he  minutely  specified ;  that  within  these  boundaries 
there  were  about  sixty  lots  not  yet  bought,  but  which, 
being  near  the  border,  might  or  might  not  be  in- 
eluded  in  the  final  arrangement ;  that  these  bounda- 
ries had  been  duly  marked  and  drawn  on  the  map  of 
Brooklyn  by  the  City  Connnissioners.  The  action  of 
the  committee  was  ratified  by  the  Directors. 

At  the  same  meeting  a  seal  for  the  corporation  was 
adopted  :  the  title,  "  Green- "Wood  Cemetery — Char- 
tered 1838  :"  the  device  represents  Memory  scattering 
flowers  over  the  graves  of  the  dead. 

Major  Douglass  was  requested  to  survey  and  lay 
out  the  grounds,  and  to  prepare  a  plot  of  the  same. 

At  a  meeting  held  on  the  25th  of  April,  the 
amended  Act  of  Incorporation  was  adopted  by  the 
Board.  The  requisite  steps  were  taken  for  surren- 
dering the  stock  and  for  classifying  the  Trustees. 


Corpora  - 
tion  seal. 


GEEEX-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


Major  Douglass  was  chosen  President ;  Mr.  Le  Boy,  i§39 
Comptroller ;  Mr.  Pieeeepoxt,  Secretary.  Messrs. 
Ray,  Peeey,  Pieeeepoxt,  Stebblxs,  and  Feeeilan 
were  placed  on  the  Executive  Committee. 

The  President  was  requested  to  advertise  the  ob- 
jects, plan,  and  prospects  of  the  association,  and  also 
to  present  the  whole  subject  in  pamphlet  form." 

The  first  work  done  on  the  Ground  was  to  <nve  it  a  rail-fence 
the  slender  protection  of  a  common  rail-fence.  A 
winding  road,  traversing  the  cemetery,  and  passing 
through  its  most  interesting  portions,  was  laid  out  by 
Major  Douglass,  and  was  put  under  contract.  It 
was  begun  on  the  10th  of  May,  1839,  and  was  opened 
for  carriages  on  the  Fourth  of  July  following.  This 
first  work  of  any  importance  performed  in  Green- 
Wood,  was  executed  by  Mr.  R.  D.  jSTooney.f  This 
road,  after  much  alteration,  amendment,  and  exten- 
sion, became  a  part  of  what  was  subsequently  known 
as  "The  Toue."    As  soon  as  the  opening  of  this 


*  In  conformity  with  this  vote,  Major  Douglass  brought  out  a  pam- 
phlet in  the  autumn  following.  A  copy  of  this  first  Green- Wood 
publication  lies  before  me.  Its  title  is  :  "  Exposition  of  the  Plan  and 
Objects  of  the  Green- Wood  Cemetery,  an  Incorporated  Trust,  Char- 
tered by  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  Xew  York."  Sixteen  of  its 
thirty-two  pages  are  a  well-written  statement  of  the  need,  character, 
and  condition  of  the  cemetery,  and  an  eloquent  appeal  to  the  public 
in  its  behalf.  The  Appendix  consists  of  official  and  State  documents, 
the  terms  of  subscription  to  cemetery  lots,  and  an  abstract  of  condi- 
tions and  limitations. 

f  This  road  was  four  and  a  half  miles  long,  and  cost  $3,250. 


24 


GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


1839.  road  made  it  an  easy  thing  to  see  and  explore  the 
grounds,  many  gentlemen  of  influence  were  taken 
known.tobe  down  to  visit  them.  Gradually  it  "became  known 
that  a  new  and  delightful  drive  had  been  added  to 
the  scanty  privileges  of  2sew  York  and  Brooklyn,  and 
Green-TTood  soon  became  a  place  of  considerable 
resort.  All  this  was  well  enough,  as  far  as  it  went, 
but  it  went  only  a  very  little  way. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Trustees,  June  24,  1839,  the 
executive  committee  reported,  among  other  things, 
that  they  had  nearly  completed  an  avenue  through 
and  around  the  cemetery.  They  proposed  to  call 
public  attention  to  this  fact,  in  the  hope  that  it  would 
Extracts     lead  to  the  sale  of  lots.    "  It  is  to  be  remembered," 

l'rom  Report. 


say  the  committee,  "  that  the  institution  is  no  longer 
one  of  profit,  but  of  benevolence.  It  looks  solely  to 
the  accomplishment  of  a  great  philanthropic  object, 
without  the  consideration  of  gain  to  any  one;  and 
it  may  therefore  appeal  with  confidence  to  the  phi- 
lanthropy of  every  public-spirited  citizen.  Let  such 
only  look  fairly  into  the  aim  and  purpose  of  our  insti- 
tution, and  its  ability,  unquestionable,  as  we  think, 
to  carry  out  those  purposes  in  a  manner  creditable  to 
this  trust  and  to  the  community  at  large,  and  the 
result  must  be  certain." 


After  mentioning  the  cemeteries  of  Philadelphia 
and  Baltimore  as  very  successful  in  disposing  of  their 
ground,  though  the  enterprises  were  got  up  for  pri- 


GREEX-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


25 


vate  advantage,  the  report  proceeds:  "Is  it  suppo-  1839. 
sable  that  Green-Wood,  which  is  a  public  trust,  and  '     r  ' 
where  the  lot-holders  are  to  realize  in  embellishments 
all  the  profits  of  the  undertaking,  shall  not  be  equally 
successful  ?" 

On  the  2d  of  July,  1830,  the  Trustees,  having  no 
means  to  go  on  with  improvements,  or  even  to  pay  for 
what  had  been  done,  resolved  that  the  bonds  of  the 
company  for  ten  thousand  dollars  should  be  issued, 
reimbursable  from  the  first  sale  of  lots.  At  the 
meeting  of  11th  October  following,  the  President  re-  issue  of 

6  65  bonds. 

ported  that  he  had  executed  the  company's  bonds  for 
$1,500  cash,  advanced  by  five  members  of  the  Board. 
The  men  who,  in  spite  of  hard  times  and  dishearten- 
ing prospects,  came  to  the  relief  of  the  embarrassed 
institution,  were  Messrs.  Pekry,  Le  Roy,  Ray,  and 
Pieerepoxt,  one  thousand  dollars  each,  and  Mr. 
Stebbixs,  five  hundred  dollars. 

On  the  23d  of  September,  1839,  books  were  opened 
for  all  who  might  wish  to  subscribe  for  lots,  and  pub- 
lic attention  was  called  to  the  subject  by  circulars  and 
advertisements.    By  the  terms,  as  then  announced,  To  rms  of 

subscription 

each  single  lot  was  to  have  three  hundred  square  feet,  advertised, 
with  a  border  of  one  foot.  Four  lots  could  be  taken 
together,  and  laid  out  in  a  quadrangle,  or  some  other 
shape  of  equivalent  area.  The  ground  was  to  be 
ready  for  selection  by  the  1st  of  November,  or  soon 
after.    The  precedence  of  choice  among  subscribers 


26 


GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


I §39.   was  to  be  determined  by  lottery,  each  lot,  in  drawing, 
K~"  v     '  to  have  one  cliance.    The  owner  of  a  lot  which  had 
been  selected,  registered,  and  paid  for,  could  imme- 
diately occupy  the  same,  and  thirty  days  thereafter 
would  receive  a  good  and  sufficient  deed. 

Apparent       But  the  public  manifested  no  avidity  for  burial-lots 

indifference  < 

of  the  pub-  in  Green- Wood.    The  prepossessions  and  prejudices 
which  spring  from  ancient  usage  and  time-honored 
probable     customs  are  not  easily  laid  aside.    Although  strong 

reasons  of.  m  1 

this  apathy,  objections  to  interments  m  cities  had  forced  them- 
selves on  many  reflecting  minds,  the  Isew  Yorkers  of 
that  day  still  clung  to  the  charnel-house  and  church- 
yard. There  their  fathers  and  their  kindred  had  been 
laid,  and  there,  very  naturally,  they  wished  to  lay 
themselves  down.  This  was  not  the  only  thing  which 
operated  adversely  to  the  rural  cemetery.  Violations 
of  the  grave  for  scientific  purposes  had  occurred  in 
some  parts  of  the  country,  and  had  awakened  fear  as 
well  as  indignation.  To  bury  their  friends  in  a  rural 
cemetery,  seemed  to  many  like  burial  in  some  open 
field,  where  the  sacred  relics  would  be  subject  to  un- 
restricted depredation.  It  was  found  no  easy  matter 
to  disabuse  such  persons  of  the  mistaken  notion. 

Nce.iiess  ap-  Happily,  all  apprehensions  of  this  kind,  so  far  as 

prehensions.        x  x    "  7  1  *  7 

Green-TVood  was  concerned,  soon  passed  away.  Its 
high  and  strong  enclosure ;  the  constancy  and  vigi- 
lance with  which  it  was  guarded  ;  the  position  and  the 
great  extent  of  the  cemetery ;  all  gave  assurance  of 
security  against  invasion,  which  experience  has  shown 


GREEX-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


27 


to  be  perfectly  well  founded.    Should  any  one,  how-  1839. 
ever,  still  be  sensitive  in  this  regard,  let  him  know,  '  * 
that  in  all  great  cities  science  readily  finds  the  sub- 
jects so  necessary  for  her  use,  among  those  who  have 
no  friends  to  care  for  what  becomes  of  their  poor 
remains. 


A  plan  for  selling  tracts  of  considerable  size  to  Pfcnofseii- 

x  D  in?  to  reli- 

religious  societies  in  Xew  York  and  Brooklyn,  was  f^JSJx- 
brought  forward  early  in  the  movement.  These  tracts  Saget1" 
were  offered  to  such  societies  at  a  large  reduction, 
on  condition  that  they  should  sell  the  lots  to  their 
own  members  only,  and  not  below  a  stipulated  price. 
It  was  thought  that  the  arrangement  would  obviate 
objections  arising  from  a  reluctance  among  people  of 
the  same  religious  faith  and  household  to  dispersion 
after  death.  By  this  means,  each  church  and  parish 
might  still  have,  as  it  were,  its  own  churchyard,  or, 
at  least,  its  own  private  burying-ground.  To  the 
cemetery  it  proffered  the  advantage  of  large,  imme- 
diate sales,  which,  being  paid  for  in  cash,  or  in  church- 
bonds,  would  furnish  means,  at  that  time  imperatively 
required,  for  expenses  and  improvements. 

Although  not  generally  acted  on,  the  proposition 
was  favorably  received.  Several  of  the  Episcopal 
churches  in  Xew  York,  under  the  prompting  of 
Trinity  Parish,  appointed  a  committee  to  consider  Hopes  or 

aid  from 

the  subject,  and  to  confer  with  the  Trustees  of  Green-  J^**  Par" 
Wood.    Mr.  Thomas  Ledlow  Ogdex,  who  was  one 


28 


GREEN- WOOD  CEMETERY. 


1§39.  of  these  Trustees,  and  who  had  been  for  years  the 
'  v  '  leading  man  in  the  corporation  of  Trinity  Church, 
was  warmly  in  favor  of  securing  for  that  great  parish 
an  ample  reservation  in  Green-Wood.  As  his  col- 
leagues of  the  committee  agreed  with  him,  and  as 
Mr.  Ogdex's  voice  had  long  been  potential  in  all  the 
business  matters  of  the  parish,  there  was  every  rea- 
son to  expect  that  the  measure  would  be  accom- 
plished. 

The  contemplated  arrangement  soon  became  a  topic 
of  conversation,  and  produced  no  little  excitement. 
The  staid  parishioners  of  Trinity,  and  the  native  life- 
long residents  of  Manhattan  Island,  were  shocked  at 
the  idea  of  being  taken  over  the  water,  or  of  being 
buried  anywhere  except  on  that  same  rock-ribbed 
isle.    At  the  vestry  meeting,  when  the  subject  came 

Hopes 

suddenly  ex-  Ury  there  was  an  unusual  attendance,  and  Mr.  Ogdex 

tingiushed.       x  7 

was,  for  the  first  time,  defeated.  The  consequence, 
as  regarded  Trinity  Parish,  was  the  selection,  for 
burial  purposes,  of  far  less  eligible  ground  on  the 
eastern  bank  of  the  Hudson,  and  far  up  on  the 
Island. 


To  the  projectors  of  Green-Wood  it  was  a  severe 
disappointment.  The  sale  of  twenty  acres  to  Trinity 
would  have  furnished  the  cash  means  which  the  young 
institution  sorely  needed,  and  would  at  once  have 
lifted  it  from  the  mire,  in  which  it  was  compelled  to 
flounder  for  two  or  three  years  longer. 


GEEEX-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


29 


Such,  and  very  naturally,  was  the  feeling  at  the  1839. 
time.    But  when  at  length,  through  much  discour- '     *  ^ 
a^einent  and  many  difficulties,  the  company  had Thc  ™tter 
worked  its  way  out,  I  doubt  if  any  deep  regrets  C(L 
were  felt  that  the  Hercules  of  Trinity  had  declined 
to  put  his  broad  shoulder  to  the  wheel.    There  is  no 
discipline  so  wholesome  and  invigorating  as  that  of 
adversity,  boldly  met  and  bravely  conquered.  Xor 
is  this  all.    It  is  quite  possible  that  a  great  ecclesias- 
tical and  moneyed  corporation,  possessing  a  large 
interest  in  the  ground,  might  have  exerted  a  prepon- 
derating influence  that  would  have  been  very  unde- 
sirable.   On  the  whole,  it  was  well  for  Green-Wood,  if 
not  for  Trinity  Church,  that  the  latter  decided  to  make 
its  burial-place  among  the  rocks  of  Manhattan  Island. 

So  far  as  appears,  the  $4,500,  obtained  as  above 

stated,  constituted  the  entire  amount  of  money  raised 

that  year,  to  pay  salaries,  cost  of  improvements, 

and  interest  on  debt.    That  it  could  go  but  a  little 

way  toward  all  this,  is  very  certain.    The  failure  of  Disconrage- 
'  J  menta 

the  negotiations  with  Trinity  Parish,  the  land  encum- 
brance still  unremoved,  the  want  of  a  general  and 
lively  interest  in  the  object  itself,  and  the  universal 
stagnation  of  business,  left  but  little  to  encourage  the 
hopes  of  those  who  had  undertaken  the  arduous  task 
of  providing,  in  anticipation,  for  a  great  public  want, 
and  that  before  the  public  itself  had  awakened  to  a 
sense  of  its  need.  All  that  this  same  public  as  yet 
knew  of  Green-Wood,  and  all  which  it  seemed  to 

6 


30 


GREEX-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


1839.    care  for,  was,  that  a  new  and  beautiful  drive,  far  sur- 


passing any  before  possessed,  bad  been  added  to  the 
list  of  its  gratifications. 

Toward  tbe  latter  part  of  October,  an  arrangement 
was  made  with  Hunn  C.  Beach,  to  act  as  general 
secretary  and  disbursing  agent.  Mr.  Beach  contin- 
ued so  to  act  about  a  year. 

About  the  same  time,  an  obelisk,  of  Staten  Island 
sienite,  was  set  up  on  the  northern  bank  of  Arbor 
Water,  where  now  stands  the  monument  of  John  B. 
Graham.  This  must  have  been  meant,  to  use  the 
language  of  sportsmen,  as  a  sort  of  "  decoy  duck." 
Beautiful  and  becoming  as  this  monument  was,  the 
obelisks  and  pyramids  seemed,  at  the  time,  in  no 
hurry  to  alight  around  it.  They  came  quite  fast 
enough  afterwards.  This  stone  now  stands  near 
Lawn-Girt  Hill,  in  the  triangular  lot  of  Stephen  B. 
Munn,  which  is  on  Alder  Avenue. 


GREE2s-W00D  CEMETERY. 


31 


1840. 

On  the  29th  of  May,  1840,  there  was  a  meeting  1840. 
of  the  Trustees.    A  vote  was  passed,  renewing  the  „    Y  , 

*  °  Renewed 

offer  to  negotiate  with- religious  societies,  and  another,  eff0Ita 

inviting  proposals  for  enclosing  the  ground  with  a 

substantial  picket  fence.    It  was  also  ordered  that 

the  books  for  sale  of  lots  should  again  be  opened. 

On  the  5th  of  September,  1810,  the  first  interment  Tiie  first  in- 

*  77  teriuent. 

was  made  in  Green-Wood  Cemetery.  John  Hanna 
was  buried  in  Lot  233,  near  the  base  of  Ocean  Hill, 
and  on  its  western  side.  During  the  two  years 
that  followed,  one  hundred  and  thirty-three  burials 
(including  removals  from  other  grounds)  were  made 
in  Green- Wood.  As  the  cemetery,  however,  had  not 
yet  been  duly  opened  for  its  original  purpose,  the  inter- 
ments referred  to  were  made  on  the  responsibility, 
and  by  the  act,  of  Mr.  S.  X.  Burrill,  an  undertaker  in  s.N.Bumii. 
the  city  of  l^ew  York,  and,  at  that  time,  almost  the 
only  member  of  his  fraternity  who  seemed  favorably 
disposed  toward  the  young  and  struggling  institution. 

In  the  summer  of  this  year  Mr.  Burrill  constructed, 
upon  the  declivity  north  of  Sylvan  "Water,  the  first 
vault  that  was  made  in  Green- Wood.  Excepting 
these  few  and  feeble  indications  of  the  use  to  which 


32 


GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


1840.  those  pleasant  grounds  were  eventually  to  be  put, 
the  year  1840  left  the  cemetery  very  much  as  it 
found  it. 


Near  the  close  of  the  year  Major  Douglass,  whose 
engineering  ability,  cultivated  taste,  and  extensive 
knowledge  had  marked  him  as  the  right  man  to  pre- 
side over  the  cemetery,  was  chosen  President  of  Ken- 
Maj.  Doug-  yon  College,  in  Ohio,  and  resigned,  prospectively, 

luss  resigns* 

the  presidency  of  Green- Wood.  The  first  topograph- 
ical plan  of  the  grounds  was  prepared  by  this  gentle- 
man, and  was  presented  and  adopted  early  in  March, 
1841.  It  is  the  last  work  connected  with  Green- 
Wood  in  which  his  hand  or  name  appears.  (For  a 
brief  notice  of  this  eminent  man,  see  Appendix,  Part 
Second,  No.  I.) 


GREEX-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


33 


1841. 

Ox  the  22cl  of  February,  1841,  another  attempt  1§41. 
was  made  to  remove  the  Schermerhorn  mortgage.  ^  ^ 

O  o  Another 

One  of  the  partners,  who  had  a  large  interest  in  that  effor\?essful 
purchase,  proposed  to  raise  for  the  purpose  one-half 
of  $25,000,  if  the  cemetery  would  furnish  the  other 
moiety.    As  this  was  simply  impossible,  the  propo- 
sition was  merely  tantalizing. 

March  6,  1811,  the  office  of  President  was  tempo- 
rarily filled  by  the  election  of  Mr.  Zebedee  Cook,  Jr.,  cookfpred- 
a  gentleman  who  had  already  some  experience,  hav-  dent' 
in^  been  an  active  director  of  the  Mount  Auburn 
Cemetery. 

Near  the  end  of  May,  the  affairs  and  condition  of  a  crisis. 

J  7  Meeting  of 

GreemWood  had  become  so  critical  that,  on  the  2Gth  Trustec8- 
of  that  month,  a  meeting  of  the  Trustees  was  held,  to 
consider  the  question  whether  they  should  make  any 
further  attempt  to  prosecute  the  enterprise.  It  had 
become  evident  that  neither  the  partners  nor  the 
cemetery  could  remove  the  encumbrance  on  the  large 
tract  which  had  belonged  to  the  Schermerhorn  farm, 
and  this  fact  rested  like  an  incubus  on  every  effort  to 
proceed.    No  report  has  been  preserved  of  the  ear- 


34 


GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


1841.  nest  and  anxious  deliberations  of  that  little  conclave. 
'     *     '  Yet  we  can  well  conceive  with  what  painful  regret 
they  contemplated  the  failure  of  their  high  endeavor, 
and  the  extinction  of  so  many  hopes.    The  whole 
Reference    subject  was  finally  referred  to  a  committee,  consisting 

to  a  Coin- 

mittee.      0f  "Messrs.  Tax  TVagenen,  StebbinSj  Hammond,  Cook, 
and  Pieeeepoxt. 


On  the  5th  of  June  following  the  Trustees  met, 
and  Mr.  Van  "Wagenen,  for  the  committee,  made  a 
Mr.  van     long  and  minute  report.    In  considering  the  question 

Wagenen's 

Beport  whether  it  was  practicable  and  expedient,  under  ex- 
isting circumstances,  to  open  to  the  public  for  burial 
purposes  those  parts  of  the  ground  which  were  actu- 
ally disencumbered,  the  committee  had  made  a  care- 
ful examination  of  the  financial  condition  of  the 
cemetery  company,  and  found  its  liabilities  to  be  as 
follows : 

The  finan-  Cemetery  bonds  on  account  of  land  purchases,  issued 
tionfitn0r  during  the  year  ending  July  1,  1810,  and  payable 


according  to  provisions  of  the  charter  $25,983  49 

Bonds  for  land  purchases,  payable  at  specific  periods.  4,816  33 

Bonds  for  money  advanced  by  the  five  Trustees   4,500  00 

Purchase-money  due  Garret  Bergen   13,084  40 

Bonds  and  mortgages  which  the  Company  had  as- 
sumed to  pay   1,653  00 

Due  to  the  Comptroller   1,827  41 

Bills  rendered  and  due   4,000  00 

Balance  claimed  by  Mr.  Beach   1,316  67 

Cash  required  on  the  Dean  and  Ibbotson  land   5,000  00 

For  fencing,  probably   4,500  00 

Total  $72,081  30 


GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


35 


In  the  opinion  of  the  committee,  the  chief  difficulty  1841. 
of  the  cemetery  company  at  that  time  consisted  not  QpJni^ 
in  the  twenty-six  thousand  dollars  of  bonds,  but  in  SlgSwra?. 
the  cash  indebtedness.    To  carry  on  the  enterprise 
would  require,  they  thought,  fifteen  thousand  dollars 
a  year,  without  making  any  payments  to  the  general 
bond-holders.    If  the  latter  would  consent  to  this,  it 
would  not  only  relieve  the  Trustees,  but  avouM  ulti- 
mately benefit  those  who  held  the  bonds.  Though 
the  embarrassments  of  the  institution  were  many 
and  great,  the  committee   did  not  despair.  By 
the  exercise  of  due  vigor  and  economy,  the  great 
object  of  the  organization  would  yet  be  accom- 
plished. 

There  can  be  no  doubt,  although  the  fact  does  not 
appear  from  the  official  record,  that  the  Trustees  at 
this  time  were  intending  to  go  on  with  the  cemetery, 
without  including  the  Schermerhorn  land.  However 
this  may  have  been,  the  aspect  of  affairs  in  reference 
to  that  property  soon  underwent  a  change.  The 
mortgage  was  foreclosed,  and  the  partners  in  the  pur-  schermer- 

00  '  1  1         horn  tore- 

Chase  lost  all  that  they  had  advanced.    The  property  Jj^jj 

reverted  to  its  original  owner,  and  wTas  again  in  theXeiandat 

a  great  re- 
market.    The  land  which,  three  years  before,  had  <Juction- 

been  appraised  at  over  six  hundred  dollars  an  acre, 

was  now  offered  for  three  hundred  dollars.  Here, 

indeed,  wTas  a  chance  for  Green-Wood,  if  it  only  want  of 

money  pre- 

had  the  money.    Even  its  promise  to  pay  would  ^"g^ 
have  been  taken  by  the  accommodating  proprie- 


36 


GEEEK"-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


1841.  tor,  if  accompanied  by  undoubted  collateral  secu- 

'    '  rit J- 

Theceme-      Jn  the  autumn  of  1841  arrangements  were  made 

lery  is  en-  <=> 

pau^dey  a  for  enclosing  the  cemetery.  An  abundance  of  cedar 
trees  growing  on  the  grounds  furnished  all  the  posts 
required.  Heavy  pine  paling  for  two  miles  of  fence 
was  brought  from  Oswego  County,  by  the  order  of 
Mr.  Pieeeepoxt,  to  be  paid  for,  if  ever,  when  the 
cemetery  should  be  able.  This  debt  was  finally  paid 
in  cemetery  lots  for  family  use. 


GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY.  37 


St.  Ann's 


1842 


In  January,  1842,  the  Trustees  were  encouraged  1842. 
by  a  subscription  for  one  hundred  lots  from  St.  Ann's 
Church  in  Brooklyn,  an  event,  at  that  dark  time,  none  SrsCone 
the  less  cheering  that  it  afterwards,  for  a  time,  fell  iouhed 
through. 


In  the  March  which  followed,  an  incident  occurred, 
supposed,  at  the  time,  to  be  disastrous  to  the  ceme- 
tery, but  which  proved,  in  reality,  most  auspicious  to 
its  interests.    From  the  beginning,  Mr.  Joseph  A.  Mr.  j.  a. 

°  °'  Perry  ac- 

Perry  had  shown  a  warm  regard  for  the  cemetery  SSge-e 
project,  and  had  given  to  it  such  attention  and  aid  ment" 
as  the  demands  of  an  engrossing  pursuit  would  allow. 
Had  that  business  continued  prosperous,  it  is  not 
likely  that  his  relations  to  Green-Wood  would  mate- 
rially have  changed.  In  this  emergency,  however, 
of  his  own  affairs  and  of  Green- Wood,  he  yielded  to 
the  request  of  friends,  who  well  knew  his  business 
energy  and  skill,  that  he  would  devote  his  whole 
time  to  the  concerns  of  the  cemetery.  The  happy 
consequences  of  this  arrangement  soon  appeared, 
and  have  been  growing  more  and  more  manifest  ever 
since. 


To  bring  the  cemetery  directly  and  prominently 

7 


Tublic 
meeting  in 
Brooklyn. 


38  GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 

l§42.  before  tlie  public,  and  to  make  the  suggested  measure 
feasible,  Mr.  Perry  took  the  necessary  steps  for  calling 
a  general  meeting  of  Brooklyn  citizens.  It  was  held 
on  the  evening  of  March  14,  1842,  in  the  Eeformed 
Dutch  Church,  Henry  street.  After  addresses  had 
been  made  by  civilians  and  by  clergymen  of  several 
denominations,  nearly  one  hundred  lots  were  condi- 
tionally subscribed  for  on  the  spot.  For  the  call  and 
names  of  the  signers,  and  for  the  constitution  and  ac- 
tion of  this  influential  meeting,  see  Appendix,  Part 
Third,  No.  VIII. 

As  it  was  impossible  for  the  Trustees  to  give  deeds 
of  the  ground  while  it  was  burdened  with  legal  liens, 
it  was  evident  that  no  further  progress  could  be  made 
until  these  encumbrances,  or  some  part  of  them, 
Plan  for  lib-  should  be  removed.    It  was  resolved,  therefore,  that 

crating  one 

hundred  at  ieast  a  hundred  acres  of  the  ground  should  be  lib- 
acres  oi the  ° 

ground.  erated,  if  possible,  and  that  no  subscription  for  lots 
should  be  binding  until  this  was  accomplished.  To 
make  this  sure,  and  to  obtain  the  confidence  of  the 

Committee  public,  Messrs.  Cook  and  Smith,  of  the  Trustees,  were 

to  receive  t  m  # 

tionsTp"     appointed  a  committee  to  receive  subscriptions  on  the 
conditions  named.    On  the  6th  of  May,  1842,  this 
a  circular    committee  put  forth  a  circular,  announcing  that  the 

is  issued. 

subscriptions  for  burial-lots  were  "  sufficient,  when 
paid,  to  enable  them  to  open  a  portion  of  the  grounds 
consisting  of  upwards  of  one  hundred  acres,  lying  in 
a  body,  entirely  free  from  encumbrance,  and  to  deliver 
deeds  for  all  lots  within  these  bounds."    The  subscri- 


GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


39 


bers  were  requested  to  make  immediate  payment.  i§42. 
See  Appendix,  Part  Third,  'No.  IX.  '     <  ' 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Trustees  (April  29th)  an  im- 
portant report  was  made  by  Mr.  Perry,'  as  chairman 
of  the  standing  committee,  giving  notice  of  an  ar- 
rangement with  Schermerhorn  for  the  purchase  ofTheSchcr- 

°  meiliorn 

eighty-five  acres  at  $350  per  acre,  instead  of  $300,  as 
at  first  offered  ;  thirty-three  of  said  acres  to  be  deeded 
on  receiving  bonds  of  the  churches  for  $10,000,  and 
the  remainder  to  be  made  over  within  six  years,  in 
small  parcels,  as  payments  should  come  in.    The  re-  Two  hun- 

1  dredlots 

port  also  stated  that  Christ  Church  and  the  First  gj&ij0 
Presbyterian  Church,  in  Brooklyn,  had  each  taken  0  urc  ei" 
one  hundred  lots  in  the  cemetery,  at  $40  a  lot,  for 
which  they  would  give  their  bonds.*  The  same  com- 
mittee had  arranged  for  the  purchase  of  all  other 
necessary  parcels  of  ground,  excepting  eight  lots  be- 
longing to  J.  M.  Marsh,  twenty  gores  of  T.  Chagot, 

*  The  idea  of  selling  ground  to  churches  and  associations  was  no 
part  of  the  original  plan.  The  real  object  was  to  provide  a  resting- 
place  for  families — little  enclosures,  where  those  who  had  been  united 
by  kindred  ties  in  life,  might  in  death  lie  down  side  by  side.  When 
the  project  of  selling  to  the  churches  was  first  brought  forward,  it 
met  with  serious  objections  in  the  Board.  But  there  was  a  necessity 
in  the  case,  which  overcame  all  scruples.  Though  it  was  a  consent 
of  poverty  rather  than  of  the  will,  excellent  reasons  were  assigned  for 
the  consideration  of  the  religious  societies.  As  a  merely  financial 
measure  it  was  beneficial  to  the  cemetery,  if  not,  indeed,  essential  to 
its  progress.  In  other  respects  it  can  hardly  be  considered  a  success. 
In  this  matter  the  ecclesiastical  esprit  de  corps  was  not  quite  so  strong 
as  had  been  supposed.  As  a  general  thing,  the  individual  members 
of  churches  and  parishes  preferred  to  make  their  selections  from  the 
whole  ground,  rather  than  to  be  shut  up  to  any  particular  portion. 


40 


GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


1842.  and  ten  lots  of  D.  L.  J  ones,  all  of  which  were  held  at 
'  exorbitant  prices.    Believing  that  these  would  even- 
tually come  in,  the  committee  advised  that  lots  should 
be  sold  without  reference  to  these  unpurchasable 
patches. 

Under  these  more  encouraging  prospects,  the  com- 
mittee labored  with  new  energy.    But  1842,  as  many 
well  remember,  was  the  hardest  of  those  hard  years 
Theceme-   which  followed  the  revulsion  of  1837.    There  seemed 

tery  again  in 

straits.  ^0  be  scarcely  any  business,  or  money,  or  credit.  The 
money  subscribed  for  cemetery  lots  came  in  slowly, 
and,  after  every  effort  had  been  made,  seven  acres  of 
the  required  hundred  were  still  unrelieved.  Here 
was  another  crisis,  for  unless  this  difficulty  were  re- 
moved, the  money  already  received  must  be  refunded, 
and  the  cemetery  would  be  hopelessly  dead. 

While  in  this  perplexity,  Mr.  Perry  called  one  day 
Relieved.    on  ]\xr<  Garret  Bergen,  and  found  the  old  man  sit- 

Garret  Ber-  ' 

gen-         ting  under  the  ancient  tree  which  shaded  his  door. 

The  condition  of  affairs  was  explained  to  him,  and  he 
was  asked  whether  he  would  release  from  legal  ties 
the  needed  seven  acres,  and  trust  the  good  faith  and 
ability  of  the  company  for  payment.  This,  certainly, 
was  asking  a  good  deal,  considering  the  uncertainties 
of  the  experiment,  and  the  fact  that  his  interest 
money  had  not  been  paid. 


Mr.  Bergen  called  his  sons — the  proposal  was 


GREEN- WOOD  CEMETERY. 


41 


briefly  discussed — and  then  the  little  family  council,  l§42. 
with  a  directness  which  reminds  us  of  patriarchal '—  v  ~' 
simplicity  and  honor,  gave  its  cheerful  assent.  Let 
this  generous  act,  which  rescued  the  sinking  institu- 
tion, and  set  it  forward  on  its  way  to  prosperity,  be 
long  remembered  to  their  praise.  See  Appendix, 
Part  Second,  No.  II. 

In  the  course  of  this  summer  some  real  progress 
was  made.  In  August  Mr.  Perry  was  chosen  Yice- 
President,  still  retaining  the  active  management  of 
the  cemetery  affairs.    Public  notice  was  given  that  opening 

"  °  the  ceme- 

the  cemetery  was  open  for  sale  of  lots  and  for  inter-  ^sred.adver" 
ments.    Partial  arrangements  were  made  for  a  formal 
opening  and  public  consecration  of  the  grounds,  and  Proposed  in- 

A         °  1  auguratioa 

Chancellor  Kent  was  requested  to  deliver  an  address 
on  the  occasion. 


On  the  25th  of  September,  1842,  Samuel  K  Bur-  Buperinten- 

1  '  '  dent  of  In- 

rill,  whose  informal  connection  with  the  cemetery  teruicnts- 
has  already  been  mentioned,  was  appointed  by  the 
standing  committee  Superintendent  of  Interments, 
his  compensation  to  consist  of  the  fees  which  might 
accrue.  Mr.  Burrill  held  this  position  about  five 
months. 


At  the  close  of  this  season  twenty  tombs  had 
been  constructed  in  Green-Wood,  and  there  had 
been,  including  removals,  one  hundred  and  sixty-two 
interments. 


42 


GEEEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


1S42.  At  the  meeting  of  the  Trustees  on  the  27th  of  De- 
cember, 1842,  the  standing  committee  was  authorized 
to  issue  bonds  for  such  claims  on  the  company,  pay- 
able on  demand,  as  the  claimants  may  be  willing  so 
to  arrange. 


It  was  resolved  to  be  expedient  to  set  apart  the 
ground  by  religious  and  other  appropriate  services, 
and  committees  were  appointed  to  fix  the  day  and  to 
make  all  arrangements  for  the  solemnity.* 


A  financial 
6tateinent. 


At  the  meeting  of  lot-owners,  December  5th,  1842, 
the  financial  statement  presented  by  Mr.  Perry  rep- 
resented the  special  liabilities  of  the  cemetery  com- 
pany as  amounting  to  $56,288  99.  The  amount  of 
general  bonds  issued  and  about  to  be  issued,  with  ac- 
crued interest,  was  §51,857  37,  making  the  aggregate 
of  liabilities,  at  that  time,  $108,146  36. 

*  The  proposed  ceremonial  never  took  place.  One  consideration 
after  another  suggested  delay,  until  the  institution  had  become  so 
well  established  as  to  make  any  formal  inauguration  unseasonable  and 
needless. 


Entrance  and  Keeper's  Lodge — 1845. 


4 


GEEEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


43 


1843. 


Although  a  great  work  yet  remained  to  be  done,  1843. 
the  serious  troubles  of  the  cemetery  were  now  over.  ^T^~ 
Henceforth  the  tenor  of  its  way  is  comparatively  proving! 
smooth.    The  discipline  of  its  infancy  had  been  se- 
vere, but  who  can  say  that  it  was  not  salutary  ? 


That  a  great  change  had  come  over  the  condi- 
tion and  prospects  of  the  institution  is  evinced  by 
the  fact  that,  during  the  year  1843,  no  special 
meeting  of  the  Trustees  was  found  necessary.  In 
the  cemetery  itself,  the  influence  of  an  efficient 
and  vigilant  administration  was  strikingly  seen. 
The  fencing-stuff,  which  had  been  ready  and  wait- 
ing for  a  year,  was  made  into  a  strong  enclosure 
of  the  ground.     A  rustic  cottage  for  the  keeper,  Fence,  cot- 

ta^e,  bell- 

a  rustic  bell-tower,  lodge,  and  gate,  guarded  and  tower>  sate- 
adorned  the  only  entrance,  and  by  their  tasteful 
simplicity  commanded  general  admiration.    The  neg- 
lected road,  the  ground  everywhere  unsightly  with 
stones  and  stumps  and  rubbish,  the  stagnant  ponds, 

and  noisome  swamps,  all  demanded  and  received  a  visible  im- 
provement. 

vast  amount  of  care  and  labor.  Those  who  had  been 
familiar  with  Green- Wood  in  its  squalid  attire,  and 
who  knew  how  scanty  still  were  its  pecuniary  means, 


44  GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 

1843.  saw  with  pleasure,  and  not  without  wonder,  its  rapid 
^   x  ~~  transformation  to  a  scene  of  neatness  and  beauty. 

It  needs  but  a  glance  at  the  financial  report  of  the 
Sean*'  Trustees,  to  show  how  small,  at  this  time,  was  the 
pecuniary  ability  of  the  cemetery.  Had  we  no  other 
evidence  than  is  furnished  by  these  figures,  we  might 
safely  say  that  the  institution  was  successfully  carried 
through  the  years  1843  and  1844,  only  by  the  exer- 
cise of  great  economy  and  care  on  the  part  of  those 
who  managed  it,  as  well  as  of  considerable  patience 
and  hope  on  the  part  of  contractors,  employes,  and 
creditors.  It  was  not,  indeed,  until  1845  that  the 
receipts  from  sales  of  the  ground  began  to  bear  any 
just  proportion  to  the  annual  expenses. 


At  the  Trustee  meeting  of  December  4, 1843,  some 
changes  were  made  in  the  government  of  the  institu- 
tion.   Mr.  Pierrepont  resigned  as  Comptroller,  and 
Mr.  rcrry    was  made  Yice-President.     Mr.  Perry,  who  had 

takes  the  of- 

trCoCn°efrComp"  been  Vice-President,  was  chosen  Comptroller, — an 
arrangement  which  has  continued,  by  successive 
re-elections,  to  the  present  time. 

Lawn-Girt  At  the  same  meeting,  the  standing  committee  was 
authorized  to  convey  to  the  executors  of  Hezekiah 
B.  Pierrepont  twenty  lots  of  Green- Wood  ground. 
This  was  in  payment  of  the  bill  for  fencing  the  ceme- 
tery, an  expense  which  had  been  assumed  by  Mr. 
Henry  E.  Pierrepont,  several  years  before.  The 


GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


45 


spot  selected  as  the  burial-place  of  the  Pierrepont  1§43. 
/amily  was  the  crown  of  a  symmetrical  eminence,  y 
now  known  as  Lawn-Girt  Hill.  The  example  thus 
set  has  repeatedly  been  followed,  and  these  large 
enclosures,  most  of  which  are  circular  or  elliptical, 
constitute  one  of  the  most  characteristic  and  beauti- 
ful features  of  Green-Wood. 

8 


46 


GREEN-WOOD  CE3IETEEY. 


1844. 

1844.      IN  the  autumn  of  1844,  applications  for  ground  in 

o^n^^  the  cemetery  were  made  by  certain  Lodges  of  the 
Odd  Fellows'  Association.  It  was  not  without  some 
hesitation,  on  the  part  of  the  Trustees,  that  consent 
was  given.  Like  the  sales  to  churches,  it  went  coun- 
ter to  the  original  intent  of  the  projectors.  For  this 
reason,  and  perhaps  on  some  other  accounts,  it  caused 
no  deep  regret  that  the  majority  of  such  associations 
were  induced,  by  considerations  of  cheapness,  to 
secure  lots  in  other  cemeteries. 


At  a  meeting  on  the  2d  of  September,  1844,  the 
important   standing  committee  reported  a  further  purchase  of  land 

purchase  of  °  x  x 

land.  from  Abraham  Schermerhorn,  at  three  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars  an  acre.  It  will  be  seen  by  the  Property 
Map  that  the  nine  acres  thus  bought,  intervening,  as 
they  did,  between  the  Fifth  Avenue  and  the  ceme- 
tery, were  essential,  not  only  to  its  looks,  but  to  its 
convenience.  The  purchase  was  indeed  absolutely 
necessary  to  secure  an  entrance  from  the  avenue  into 
the  cemetery.  After  this  ground  was  obtained,  the 
entrance,  which  had  been  north  of  the  keeper's  lodge, 
and  on  land  not  belonging  to  the  cemetery,  was  moved 
a  little  farther  south,  and  the  keeper's  lodge  was  con- 
siderably enlarged. 


GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


47 


to 

procure  a 
monument. 

? 


In  the  summer  of  this  year,  the  remains  of  De  1§44. 
Witt  Clinton,  removed  by  order  of  his  family  from  * 
Albany  to  Green-Wood,  were  placed,  temporarily,  in  Remains  0f 
the  tomb  of  Mr.  Le  Boy,  upon  Bay  Grove  Hill.    In  g£dJ* 
expectation  of  this  event,  the  Trustees  had  previously  wood, 
voted  to  set  apart  a  piece  of  ground  for  the  final 
reception  of  the  relics,  and  for  a  suitable  monument. 
A  subscription  was  soon  after  opened  for  the  erection  Effort 
of  such  a  memorial,  the  sum  of  $2,100  was  pledged 
and  here  the  matter  rested  for  five  years.    In  the 
mean  time,  as  if  this  slight  effort  in  the  city  of  Isew 
York  had  touched  and  roused  the  slumbering  grati- 
tude of  the  people,  movements  for  a  monument  to 
Clinton  were  made  in  different  parts  of  the  State. 
In  1848  the  Clinton  Monument  Association  was  in  cor-  '-ciinton 

Monument 

porated,  and  entered  on  its  work  with  an  earnestness  ^Jjf'011 
which  seemed  to  promise  much.  A  special  committee, 
consisting  of  Luther  Beadisu,  Millard  Fillmore, 
and  William  Paemelee,  was  appointed  "  to  ascertain 
the  probable  expense  of  a  suitable  monument  to  be 
erected  to  the  memory  of  De  Wttt  Clinton;  and 
the  form  and  material  for  such  monument;  and 
whether  the  relatives  of  the  deceased  would  consent 
to  the  removal  of  his  remains  to  the  place  selected 
for  such  monument ;  and  where,  and  on  what  terms, 
suitable  land  could  be  obtained  for  the  erection  of 
the  same." 


Mr.  Charles  A.  Clinton,  in  behalf  of  the  family, 
replied  that  the  remains  of  his  father  could  not  be 


48 


GREEN- WOOD  CEMETERY. 


1844.  removed  from  Green- Wood.    This  circumstance  in- 
V~"~Y"~     duced  the  committee  to  recommend  that  the  proposed 
erection  should  be  civic  rather  than  sepulchral^  and 
that  it  should  be  located,  not  in  a  cemetery,  but 
umphai"'    ^  some  city  or  public  place.    A  triumphal  arch,  to 
wa?buSt  on  he  surmounted  by  a  statue  of  Clinton,  was  the  form 
adopted,  and  the  small  esplanade  of  the  Capitol,  at 
Albany,  was  the  spot  selected.    James  Renwick  fur- 
nished a  plan  and  picture  of  the  proposed  edifice, 
and  estimates  of  cost,  varying  with  the  size,  from 
$47,000  to  893,000. 

While  the  question  of  location  had  been  pending, 
three  cemeteries  and  six  large  towns  had  contended 
earnestly  for  the  honor.  They  lost  but  little  in  their 
failure.  The  enterprise  went  no  further,  and  a  "  per- 
ished pamphlet"  is  all  that  remains  of  the  great 
triumphal  arch. 

This  result,  foreseen,  at  least,  and  the  decision 
thus  made  known  that  the  relics  of  the  great  states- 
man would  not  be  removed  from  Green-Wood,  natu- 
Revived  and  rally  led  to  a  revival  of  the  effort  to  place  a  suitable 

successful  ^ 

ifewVork.  monument  over  his  grave.  At  the  request  of  several 
gentlemen  interested  in  the  object,  and  acting  as 
a  committee  on  behalf  of  subscribers  to  the  work, 

Henry  k.    Henrt  K.  Brown  furnished  a  design.    His  model 

Brown's 

statue  of     0f  a  statue,  to  be  executed  in  bronze,  was  seen  and 

Clinton.  '  7 

approved  by  numerous  amateurs  and  artists,  and  was 
adopted  by  the  subscribers.    The  sum  required  was 


GEEEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


49 


soon  obtained,  and  the  artist  proceeded  to  execute  the  1844. 


a  clay  model  to  the  satisfaction  of  his  employers,  he 
took  the  plaster  copy  to  the  foundry  of  Mr.  Ames,  at 
Chicopee,  Massachusetts,  where  it  was  cast  in  bronze. 
Let  it  be  remembered,  to  the  credit  both  of  sculptor 
and  founder,  that  this  was  the  first  large  and  really 
successful  casting  of  bronze  statuary  in  our  country. 
The  colossal  statue,  when  finished,  was  placed  for  a 
short  time  in  front  of  the  City  Hall  of  Xew  York, 
and  thence  removed  to  its  present  position  in  Green- 
Wood,  on  the  central  mound  of  Bay-Side  Dell.  It  gj[,;Sido 
is  a  truthful  and  dignified  representation  of  the 
illustrious  original,  and,  though  no  other  monument 
should  rise  to  his  memory,  will  bear  testimony,  in 
distant  times,  that  the  contemporaries  of  Clinton 
were  not  all  ungrateful.    See  Appendix,  Part  First, 


work.   Having  completed  at  his  studio, 


Kb.  III. 


50 


GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


1845. 

1845.      From  a  statement  made  to  the  Board  by  the  Comp- 
^   v     '  troller,  Jan.  18th,  1845,  we  learn  that  attempts  had 
been  made  to  get  lots  in  the  cemetery  with  a  view 
to  private  gain,  by  reselling  or  otherwise.    To  pre- 
vent all  snch  perversion  of  the  design,  a  resolve  was 
Restrictions  passed  "  that  all  interments  in  lots  shall  be  restricted 
meits/     to  the  members  of  the  family  and  relatives  of  the 
proprietors  thereof,  unless  special  permission  to  the 
contrary  be  obtained  in  writing  from  the  Comp- 
troller;" and  also,  that  a  restriction  to  this  effect 
should  be  inserted  in  the  deeds  of  all  lots  sold  to 
individuals.    But  for  this  salutary  restraint,  specula- 
tion, with  its  selfish  and  baleful  influences,  would 
undoubtedly  long  since  have  worked  its  way  into  the 
hallowed  precincts  of  Green-Wood. 

In  accordance  with  a  proposition  from  Mr.  ¥m. 
.V.  White,  who  was  a  large  holder  of  the  original 
Newar-     cemetery  bonds,  an  arrangement  in  regard  to  them 
ETilgpjtfto  was  this  year  effected,  which  proved  exceedingly 

the  bonds.  J  1  \  °  J 

beneficial  to  the  enterprise.  Those  bonds,  as  origin- 
ally given,  were  indefinite  as  to  time  of  payment, 
but  pledged  toward  their  liquidation  one-half  of  the 
annual  receipts.  With  this  condition  the  straitened 
circumstances  of  the  company  had  made  it  impossible 
to  comply.  Nothing  had  been  paid,  and  the  interest 
for  five  years  had  been  accumulating.    Under  the 


GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


51 


new  arrangement,  the  bonds  were  payable  in  three,  1S45. 
five,  and  seven  years,  with  interest  semi-annually.  v 
All  the  back  interest  down  to  July,  1844,  was  given 
in.    This  change  was  a  saving  to  the  cemetery  of  Beneficial 
several  thousand  dollars. 


At  this  meeting  Mr.  Zebedee  Cook  resigned  the 
Presidency,  and  received  the  thanks  of  his  co-trustees 
for  the  earnest  and  efficient  service  which  he  had 
rendered  to  the  institution.    Mr.  Robert  Ray,  who,  Robert  Bay 

chosen  Pres- 

at  the  first  organization  of  the  Board,  had  declined  ide0t- 
the  appointment,  was  elected  to  succeed  him.  For- 
tunately for  the  cemetery,  Mr.  Ray's  modesty  no 
longer  compelled  him  to  refuse  a  position  which  he 
has  ever  since  held  so  satisfactorily  to  all. 


Vista  Hill,  one  of  those  gentle,  rounded  swells,  vista  nni 

'  &  '  '  sold  to  the 

in  which  Green-"Wood  abounds,  had  been  bought,  t9,"™h.nf 

'  o     7  the  Saviour. 

during  the  winter  of  1844-5,  by  the  Church  of  the 
Saviour,  Pierrepont  street,  Brooklyn.  The  lots  around 
the  circumference  were  sold  to  members  of  the  par- 
ish, and  a  circular  area  in  the  centre  was  reserved 
for  the  Lord's  poor.    On  the  18th  of  September, 

1845,  this  enclosure  was  consecrated  to  its  future  USe,  Consecra- 
tion of  Vista 

in  the  presence  of  a  large  concourse.    The  Rev.  Mr.  hm. 
Farley,  pastor  of  the  church,  and  the  Rev.  John 
Pierpoxt,  conducted  the  exercises,  which  were  highly 
appropriate  and  impressive.     See  Appendix,  Fart 
First,  No.  IV. 


52 


GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


1S45. 


"  What's 
hallowed 
ground  ?" 


So  far  as  religious  solemnities  and  formal  rites  are 
necessary  for  consecration,  Yista  Hill  is  the  only  con- 
secrated ground  in  Green- Wood.*  No  one,  however, 
imagines  that  this  inaugural  ceremony  was  consid- 
ered, even  by  those  who  engaged  in  it,  as  imparting 
to  the  spot  any  peculiar  sanctity.  That  superstitious 
belief  in  a  ceremonially  imparted  sacredness,  which 
has  shown  itself  so  often  and  so  odiously  in  unchris- 
tian acts  of  exclusion,  is  not  the  creed  of  those  who 
founded  Green- Wood,  or  of  the  great  community 
who  have  selected  it  for  their  last  home.  In  their 
view,  if  we  mistake  not,  it  has  had  ample  consecra- 
tion in  the  generous  motives  which  led  to  its  estab- 
lishment— in  the  tender  and  unceasing  care  which 
has  kept  and  guarded  it — in  the  genial  influences  of 
its  own  earth  and  sky — and,  above  all,  in  those  trea- 
sures, once  so  dear,  which  have  been  confided  to  its 
trust. 

"  That's  hallowed  ground,  where,  mourned  and  missed, 
The  lips  repose  our  love  has  kissed." 


*  We  must  except  also  the  sepulchre  and  monument  of  Miss  Canda, 
which  have  received  the  blessing  of  the  Komish  Church. 


G-ardener's  Lodge,  Ocean  Hill — 1845. 


GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


53 


1846. 

DdRma  the  year  1846  the  cemetery  continued  to  l§46. 
make  progress.    More  than  four  hundred  lots  were  ^~^^f 
sold.    There  were  eight  hundred  and  twelve  inter-  r,ro°ress- 
ments.    The  receipts  from  various  sources  amounted 
to  a  little  more  than  §38,000.    To  enable  the  Cor- 
poration to  hold  more  land,  an  amendment  to  the 
charter  was  passed  by  the  Legislature.    See  Appen- 
dix, Part  Third,  No.  X. 

The  records  of  the  Board  and  of  the  Standing 
Committee  for  the  year  make  no  mention  of  any 
thing  special  or  peculiar.  At  the  only  meeting  of 
the  Trustees  (Dec.  7th),  the  Comptroller  was  author- 
ized to  convey  to  the  family  of  Cornelius  Bergen, 
deceased,  a  cemetery  lot,  "in  consideration  of  ser- 
vices rendered  by  the  deceased,  in  procuring  amend- 
ments to  the  charter,  while  a  member  of  the  Legisla- 
ture of  this  State."   This  small  tribute  to  the  Bergen  A  tribute  to 

the  Bergons. 

name  had  been  well  deserved,  as  appears  elsewhere. 
At  the  election  of  officers  (Dec.  9th),  Mr.  Wm.  Augus- 

tus  "White. 

tus  White  was  placed  on  the  Standing  Committee, 
which  has  enjoyed,  ever  since,  his  valuable  services. 

Until  this  time  the  office  of  Surveyor  had  been 
regarded  as  temporary.  The  Standing  Committee, 
annoyed  by  the  want  of  promptness  and  efficiency  in 
that  department,  and  convinced  that  the  office  would 

9 


54 


GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


1846.  be  a  constant  necessity,  resolved  on  procuring  a  per- 
'     *~   '  manent  surveyor,  and  Mr.  William  C.  Moore  was 
appointed.    On  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Moore,  soon 
Mr.  mils    after,  he  was  succeeded  in  the  office  by  Mr.  Lindsay 

chosen  J  J 

^r^tnernt  J-  Wells,  whose  faithful  and  efficient  services  have 

oiir>     or.  * 

continued  to  the  present  time. 

Arrange-^      An  arrangement  on  terms  of  joint  partnership  was 
MaS.      made  during  the  year  with  Mr.  Robert  Martin,  for 
publishing,  by  subscription,  a  work  descriptive  of  the 
Publication  cemetery,  under  the  title  of  "Green- Wood  Illtjs- 

of  "  Green-  d  7 

Sed"llu8"  teated."  It  came  out  in  numbers,  at  irregular  inter- 
vals, and  contained  engraved  views  of  the  scenery 
and  monuments,  with  descriptions  of  the  same.  Mr. 
James  Smillie,  an  artist  of  the  highest  reputation, 
executed  the  engravings  from  drawings  made  by 
himself.  The  descriptive  portion  was  furnished  by 
the  writer  of  these  pages.  After  the  issue  of  two  or 
three  numbers,  the  entire  undertaking  was  assumed 
by  Mr.  Martin,  who  agreed  to  carry  it  on  in  the 
same  style.  The  work  was  printed  both  in  quarto 
and  folio  form,  with  a  typographic  and  artistic  beauty 

style  of  tho  which,  at  that  time,  was  rare  in  American  publica- 
tions, and  which,  even  now,  has  not  often  been  sur- 
passed. Attractive  in  subject  and  in  execution,  it 
had  an  extensive  circulation,  and  drew  the  attention 
of  many  to  the  superlative  charms  of  the  scene  which 
it  depicted  and  described.  "While  it  was  confined  to 
Green-Wood,  the  work  was  remunerative.  But  Mr. 
Martin  extended  his  plan,  and  proposed  to  bring  in 


GREEN- WOOD  CEMETERY. 


55 


all  the  rural  cemeteries.  His  second  series  related  to  1846. 
Mount  Auburn.    The  work  still  maintained  its  me-  J- \ 


chanical  and  pictorial  excellence,  and  was  edited  by 
a  Boston  lady,  whom  Dr.  Bigelow  had  recommended 
for  the  task.  The  field,  however,  as  compared  with 
New  York,  was  limited;  the  sales  fell  off  rapidly, 
and  the  publisher,  after  incurring  a  heavy  loss,  sus- 
pended the  issue.    See  Appendix,  Part  First,  No.  V. 


56 


GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


1847. 

1847.      ^T  a  meeting  of  the  Trustees,  on  the  10th  of 

'  r~ — '  March,  1847,  the  Standing  Committee  reported  that 

sixty-five    the j  had  bought,  of  John  G.  and  Garret  G.  Bergen, 

acres  bought 

of  the       a  tract  adioinino;  the  southwestern  side  of  the  ceme- 

Bergens.  J  0 

tery.  This  valuable  purchase  added  to  Green-Wood 
a  tract  of  sixty-five  acres,  extending  from  the  Fifth 
Avenue  to  the  Brooklyn  City  line.  The  price  was 
$310  an  acre.  The  land  was  paid  for  in  six  per  cent, 
cemetery  bonds,  running  from  four  to  six  years.  At 
Gift  to  coi-  this  meeting  the  Comptroller  was  authorized  to  give 

oral  Orphan  iat         p  -\  r\ 

Asylum.     four  lots  to  the  Asylum  for  Colored  Orphans. 


WESTERN  ENTRANCE. 

At  the  same  meeting  the  Standing  Committee  was 
A  western    empowered  to  buy  such  land  as  might  be  necessary 

entrance  re- 
solved on.    to  secure  another  entrance  to  the  cemetery,  near 

Reasons.  * 1 

its  southwestern  corner.  The  circumstances  which 
made  this  action  necessary  are  briefly  stated  by  the 
Trustees  in  their  general  Report  of  Receipts  and 
Expenditures,  pages  73,  71.  Owing  to  the  financial 
weakness  of  the  institution,  the  Trustees  were  un- 
able, in  the  outset,  to  secure  the  land  which  adjoined 
the  original  entrance,  and  other  reasons  prevented 
them  from  getting  it  afterward.  This  ground,  almost 
up  to  the  gate  of  the  cemetery,  was  sold  or  rented  to 
persons  who  opened  places  of  entertainment.  These 


GEE  EX-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


57 


establishments  grew  more  and  more  profitable  to  1S47. 
their  keepers,  and  more  and  more  annoying  to  the  T~^T^T 
cemetery,  as  the  visitors  of  Green-Wood  increased  in  JSj^SSS. 
number.    On  Sundays,  especially,  when  funerals  are 
most  frequent,  afflicted  mourners  were  often  shocked, 
at  the  very  threshold  of  the  ground,  by  sights  and 
sounds  of  drunken  carousal.    To  escape  from  this 
intolerable  nuisance,  another  entrance  was  resolved 
on.    It  was  necessary,  however,  to  proceed  with  cau- 
tion.   JSTo  public  intimation  of  the  intended  change 
was  given  until  the  land  adjoining  the  new  approach 
had  been  so  far  secured  as  to  prevent  a  repetition  of 
the  evil.    For  this  new  gate  the  southwestern  corner 
was  taken  from  necessity  rather  than  choice.  The 
Trustees  were  sorry  to  go  so  far,  but  at  that  time 
they  could  enter  nowhere  else.    Increased  distance, 
however,  was  not  the  only  objection  to  this  south- 
western corner.    Before  a  proper  entrance  could  be 
effected  there,  a  vast  amount  of  excavation  and  of  Difficulties 
grading  was  required.    Those  who  have  known  the  ground, 
place  only  since  it  was  opened  for  visitors,  can  have 
but  a  faint  conception  of  its  previous  aspect,  or  of  the 
work  which  was  done  there. 


On  the  right  of  this  gate  a  handsome  wooden 
building  was  erected,  containing  a  resting-place  for  Description 

of  the 

visitors,  and  offices  for  the  employes.    It  had  a  fine  buildings, 
tower,  with  a  bell,  a  clock,  and  projecting  clock-face. 
On  the  other  side  of  the  gate  stood  the  porter's  lodge 
— also  a  two-storied  building.    The  broad  space  in 


58 


GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


1§47.  front  of  the  gate  was  thickly  planted,  on  the  northern 
_'  Y  ~'  side,  with  spruces  and  pines,  which  have  since  become 
a  tall,  dense  thicket  of  evergreens,  and  from  which, 
as  from  a  nursery,  many  large  trees  have  already 
"been  taken,  to  protect  and  adorn  the  new  northern 
entrance.  On  the  southern  side,  not  far  from  the 
gate,  a  tasteful  well-house  offered  its  cool,  pure  water 
to  the  thirsty  visitor.  Still  farther  down  stood  a 
comfortable  cottage,  occupied  by  the  superintendent 
of  the  workmen.  Below  this,  and  outside  of  the 
ground  owned  by  the  cemetery,  omnibuses  and  pub- 
lic vehicles  were  required  to  stop.  Such  were  the 
arrangement  and  aspect  of  affairs  in  this  quarter 
after  1850.  An  idea  of  the  general  appearance  of 
this  gateway,  its  structures  and  surroundings,  as  they 
were  seen  with  a  beauty  constantly  increasing  for 
about  ten  years,  may  be  obtained  from  the  accom- 
panying cut. 

As  soon  as  the  new  entrance  was  ready,  the  other 
Gate  for     gate  was  appropriated  to  funeral  processions,  and 

funerals.       &  r  ' 

opened  only  for  them.    The  drinking-shops,  after 
this,  had  but  a  sorry  time  of  it.    The  funereal  trains, 
which  brought  them  no  customers,  must  have  seemed 
The  liquor-  doubly  dismal  to  these  outsiders.    Being  unable  to 

venders  "  ° 

disgust     endure  so  gloomy  a  spectacle,  they  soon  abandoned 
the  spot. 

advance!0*8     At  tne  close  of  ls4:1  an  addition  of  ten  dollars  was 
made  to  the  price  of  each  lot.    Previously  to  this 


\ 


GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY.  59 

time,  the  lots  had  been  sold  without  grading,  for  1847. 
which  a  subsequent  charge  was  made  according  to  '_  Y  ' 
the  labor  required.    This  varied  greatly  in  different  New  mie  in 

*  regard  to 

cases,  and  dissatisfaction  was  no  uncommon  result,  s^^s- 
The  additional  ten  dollars  included  the  grading. 

Green- Wood  unquestionably  owes  much  of  its  pres- 
ent beauty  to  the  judicious  system  of  grading,  which 
was  early  adopted.  The  following  remarks  on  this 
point  appeared  in  1852 :  "  In  one  or  two  respects  the  operation  of 

A  -LJ-  A  the  system. 

improvements  and  arrangements  of  Green-Wood  dif- 
fer, it  is  believed,  from  those  of  the  cemeteries  which 
preceded  it.  One  of  these  is,  that  the  grading  and 
final  shaping  of  the  ground  precedes  the  disposal  of 
the  lots,  and  is  in  no  case  to  be  altered  by  the  pur- 
chaser. The  deforming  effect  of  those  little  terraces 
and  angular  disturbances  of  the  surface,  which  result 
from  leaving  this  work  to  the  taste  and  caprice  of 
individuals,  may  be  seen  in  any  cemetery  which  has 
disregarded  this  important  first  principle.  Through- 
out the  whole  of  Green-Wood  it  will  be  found  that 
nature's  own  easy  and  graceful  outline  has  been 
retained  or  restored." 

There  was  an  application  this  year,  from  a  commit- 
tee of  the  Sons  of  Temperance,  for  the  purchase  of  tt  sons  of 

x  7  x  Temper- 

ten  acres  in  Green-Wood,  to  be  used  as  burying-  ^plication 

ground  by  the  members  of  that  association.    It  was  declme<L 

deemed  inexpedient  to  sell  so  large  a  tract  to  a  single 

society.    Besides  other  objections,  it  is  evident  that 


GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


the  right  to  a  vote  for  every  lot  which  such  a  society 
would  own,  might  give  to  its  officers  an  undue  and 
dangerous  weight. 

The  number  of  interments  for  the  year  1847  was 
1,297.  Of  the  lots,  633  were  sold.  The  gross  re- 
ceipts amounted  to  over  §60,000. 


GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


61 


1848. 

Excepting  a  resolve  authorizing  the  Standing  Com-  184§. 
mittee  to  extend  the  bounds  of  the  cemetery  as  far  as  ^    *2  ' 

*  Power  given 

Twentieth  street,  if  they  should  think  it  expedient,  and  cSSee. 
another  resolve,  giving  them  power  to  reserve  from 
sale  such  ground  as  they  might  consider  suitable  for 
a  chapel  site  or  for  public  monuments,  there  is  no 
entry  of  special  importance  in  the  record  of  this  year. 
It  was,  however,  a  busy  year  in  Green-Wood.  The 
statistics  of  1848  give  ample  evidence  that  the  ceme- 
tery was  advancing  in  public  favor,  and  that  there 
was  no  falling  off  in  the  care  which  it  received  from 
its  indefatigable  manager.    The  sale  of  lots  amounted  Statistical 

proofs  of 

to  670 ;  the  number  of  interments  to  2,025 ;  the  gross  prosperity, 
receipts  to  more  than  §85,000.  Some  idea  of  what 
was  going  on  in  the  cemetery  grounds  may  be  derived 
from  the  fact  that  the  item  of  labor,  which  had  been 
about  $20,000  the  year  previous,  amounted,  in  1818, 
to  nearly  $36,000. 

Mr.  Jonathan  Goodhue,  one  of  the  most  esteemed  Death  of 


Jonathan 


members  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  died  this  year,  Goodhue- 
and  Mr.  "William  H.  Asptnwall  was  elected  in  his  Election  <,t 

William  II. 

place.  For  a  notice  of  Mr.  Goodhue,  see  Appendix,  A?rimvalL 
Part  Second,  !STo.  IY. 


Experience  having  shown  that  the  first  survey  of 
Green- Wood,  made  in  1810,  had  been  loosely  and 

10 


62 


GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


1848.  inaccurately  performed,  the  entire  territory  was  this 
^^^year  resurveyed,  on  trigonometrical  principles,  and 
by  Swaid  with  the  most  minute  accuracy.  "  So  exact  and  so 
complete  was  the  execution  of  this  survey,  that  no 
error  of  any  importance  has  been  detected  in  its  lines 
or  angles."  The  credit  of  this  useful  service  is  due 
to  Mr.  Edward  Boyle — then  hardly  out  of  his  boy- 
hood— now  one  of  the  city  surveyors  for  the  corpora- 
tion of  New  York.  The  necessity  and  advantage  of 
Great  im- ^  accurate  mapping,  in  a  case  like  this,  is  not  easily 
Imjipingin  over-estimated.  It  precludes  the  mistakes  which 
would  otherwise  be  made,  and  the  disputes  which 
would  inevitably  arise  in  regard  to  metes  and  bounds 
among  so  many  thousands  of  small  land-holders.  It 
makes  it  easy  to  determine,  by  mere  position,  the 
place  of  any  recorded  sepulture,  though  all  other 
memorials  are  wanting.  This  consideration  is  of 
special  value  in  its  relation  to  the  public  lots,  where 
there  are  already  thousands  of  single  graves,  to  be 
recognized  only  by  their  place  in  the  grounds  and  in 
the  record. 


such  cases. 


Gardener's  Lodge,  Southern  Entrance:   erected  1848. 


GREENWOOD  CEMETERY. 


63 


1849. 

The  Eegister  of  Interments  for  the  year  contains  1§49. 
3,291  names.    The  lots  sold  were  736.    The  receipts 
on  this  account  were  861,645.54.    The  bill  of  labor  im- 
amounted  to  §39,026.70.    Total  receipts,  $97,566.79. 


More  than  a  hundred  sketches  of  the  buildings, 
monuments,  and  tomb-fronts  in  Green-Wood  were 
taken  this  year  and  engraved  on  wood,  to  serve  as  wood 

Engravings. 

illustrations  of  a  Directory  for  the  grounds,  which 
was  then  in  course  of  preparation. 


The  Standing  Committee,  which  had  previously 
been  empowered  to  make  reservations  of  ground  for 
the  erection  of  public  monuments  and  buildings,  re- 
ported that  they  had  selected,  and  reserved  from  sale,  chapel  mil. 
a  fine  eminence  immediately  west  of  Dale  Water, 
believing  it  to  be  an  eligible  site  for  the  chapel  then 
contemplated.  The  work  of  opening  a  new  entrance 
near  the  southwestern  corner  of  the  cemetery  was 
begun  this  year,  and  carried  well  along.  A  new  a  new  beii. 
bell,  of  greater  power  than  that  which  called  forth 
the  plaintive  apostrophe  of  Aether  Moeell,*  was 
mounted  on  the  rustic  tower.  This  bell  now  hangs 
over  the  northern  gateway. 

In  1849  a  volume  was  published,  entitled  "  Green- 

*  See  Appendix,  Part  First,  No.  II. 


64 


GREEX-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


1§49.  "Wood :  a  Directory  for  Visitors."  It  was  a  short  and 
^    v     '  thick  duodecimo,  and  intended  mainly  to  be  a  guide 

Green-  ^  o 

Direcdtoiy.   and  assistant  for  those  who  should  visit  the  grounds. 

It  conducted  the  reader  through  all  the  avenues  and 
through  the  most  inviting  paths,  pointing  out  all 
monuments  and  objects  deemed  worthy  of  note,  and 
mentioning  more  fully  those  which  are  important  or 
peculiar.  Side  by  side  with  these  descriptive  notices 
were  placed  the  wood-cuts  already  referred  to.  The 
second  part  of  the  volume  contained  some  twenty 

Biographical  biographical  sketches,  conspicuous  among  which  are 
the  notices  of  De  Witt  Clinton,  Chancellor  Kent, 
Dr.  Samuel  L.  Mitchell,  and  Dr.  David  Abeel. 

A  large  edition  of  this  work  was  published,  most 
of  which  was  sold  at  the  cemetery  office.  Subse- 
quently, a  second  edition  of  the  Directory,  without 
the  biography,  was  disposed  of  in  the  same  way.  It 
is  now  out  of  print,  and  it  is  not  easy  to  find  a  copy. 

In  speaking  of  our  own  productions,  we  may  at 
least  be  allowed  to  find  fault.  As  a  Directory,  the 
book  in  question  undoubtedly  attempted  too  much. 
It  might  suit  those  who  had  days  to  spend  in  explor- 
ing Green-Wood,  but  was  much  too  particular  for 
a  guide-     the  visitor  of  an  hour.    Something  of  the  sort  is 

book  needed.  ° 

greatly  needed,  and  is  a  matter  of  constant  request. 
The  want  to  We  are  glad,  therefore,  to  learn  that  a  hand-book  for 

be  supplied. 

Green- Wood,  of  convenient  form  and  size,  will  soon 
be  ready  for  visitors. 


GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


65 


1850. 

In  order  to  bring  the  annual  accounts  down  to  the  i§so. 

end  of  the  year,  the  regular  meeting  of  the  lot-owners  *  * — 

was  changed  from  the  first  Monday  in  December  to  Annual 

IKt6Ctill££ 

the  second  Wednesday  in  March.   By  an  amendment  changed, 
in  the  By-Laws,  the  President  was  made  an  ex-officio 
member  of  all  the  standing  and  all  the  special  com- 
mittees of  the  Board. 


In  compliance  with  a  memorial  from  the  Trustees, 
the  Legislature,  on  the  5th  of  April,  passed  an  act 
containing  some  important  amendments  of  the  Green-  charter 

amended, 

"Wood  charter.  The  first  three  sections  relate  to  the 
conveyance  and  the  devising  of  burial-lots ;  and  the 
fourth  section  empowers  the  corporation  to  sell  cer- 
tain outlying  lands  of  which  it  had  become  possessed. 
See  Appendix,  Part  Third,  No.  XI. 


Four  lots  in  Green-Wood  were  given  this  year  to  Lots  fnvcn 

"  to  NewYork 

the  New  York  Asylum  for  Deaf-Mutes,  and  three  £s-vl.u™ f,,r 
lots,  in  like  manner,  to  the  Brooklyn  Orphan  Asylum.  Brooklyn 

Orphan 
Asylum. 

In  grateful  remembrance  of  their  first  president, 
and  of  his  early  and  intimate  connection  with  the 
enterprise,  the  Trustees  resolved  that  two  lots — to  be 
designated  by  the  Standing  Committee — should  be 
given  to  the  family  of  Major  David  B.  Douglass,  Jjjjjjfjf 
deceased ;  and  that  said  committee,  after  the  remains  potjass. 


66 


GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


1850.   of  Major  Douglass  are  deposited  in  the  ground, 
v— ^     '  should  canse  the  lots  to  be  suitably  enclosed,  and  a 
suitable  monument  to  be  erected  thereon. 

Lots  sold  in  1850  872 

Interments  3,789 

Statistics.  Eeceipts  on  account  of  lots  $76,906  28 

Labor  account   58,451  18 

Total  receipts   98,333  45 


GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


67 


1851. 

Until  1850,  the  books,  transactions,  and  accounts  1851. 
of  the  institution  were  annually  examined,  with  great  Y  ' 
patience  and  care,  by  auditing  sub-committees  of  the 
Board.  The  accounts,  documents,  and  vouchers  had 
now  become  so  voluminous  as  to  make  this  no  longer 
practicable.  A  regular  accountant  was  accordingly 
employed  to  examine  all  the  accounts,  to  compare 
the  expenditures  with  their  vouchers,  and  the  receipts 
for  lots  sold  with  the  deeds  given.  From  that  time 
to  the  present  this  important  task  has  been  faithfully 
executed  by  ]\Ir.  Timothy  T.  Merwix,  under  the  im-  T.  T.  Merwin 

appointed 

mediate  supervision  and  direction  of  the  Auditing  examiner  of 

■L  o  accounts. 

Committee. 


Applications  for  grants  of  ground  to  churches  and 
benevolent  societies  having  become  numerous,  the 
whole  subject  was  intrusted  to  the  Standing  Com- 
mittee, with  power  to  grant  or  refuse,  as  in  their 
judgment  should  be  proper. 

The  Reservoir  on  Fountain  Hill  was  made  this  year,  Eeservoir 

and  water- 

and  connected  by  a  four-inch  iron  pipe*  with  Sylvan  works- 
Lake.    The  water  was  thrown  into  it  by  a  steam- 
worked  forcing-pump,  placed  in  a  small  building 
near  the  lake.    A  two-inch  pipe  from  the  tank  was 


*  In  1853  an  eight-inch  cement  pipe  was  laid  by  its  side. 


G8 


GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


1851.  laid  from  Sylvan  Lake  through  Yalley,  Arbor,  and 
v     s^mJ  Osier  "Waters,  and  back  to  the  parent  lake.    At  a 
later  period,  Dale  and  Crescent  Waters  were  con- 
nected with  the  Eeservoir.    In  several  of  these  ponds 
jets  were  placed. 

Theim-        The  need  of  these  water-works,  and  the  leading 

provement 

anTuseS  m°tive  which  prompted  their  construction,  are  given 
in  the  General  Report  for  the  first  twenty-two  years. 
Having  alluded  to  the  ponds  as  among  the  considera- 
tions which  influenced  the  projectors  in  their  selection 
of  the  site,  the  Report  proceeds :  "  To  preserve,  there- 
fore, and  to  improve  these  little  lakes,  became  an 
object  of  early  attention.  As  fast  as  could  well  be 
done,  they  were  cleared  out  and  deepened.  Their 
borders  were  graded  and  shaped,  covered  with  ver- 
dure, and  shaded  with  appropriate  foliage.  It  soon 
appeared  that  they  were  liable  to  changes,  which 
marred  their  beauty,  or  even  made  them  offensive. 
Every  heavy  rain  left  them  turbid,  and  it  would  be 
long  before  they  cleared  again.  With  the  exception 
of  Sylvan  Water,  they  were  all  liable  to  dry  up  in 
seasons  of  drought.  At  such  times,  the  exhalations 
from  their  desiccated  beds  were  disagreeable  and 
sanitary  unwholesome.  A  proper  regard  to  the  health  and 
tfons.  °ia  comfort  of  those  who  were  employed  on  the  grounds, 
and  of  the  multitudes  who  frequented  the  cemetery, 
required  that  something  should  be  done.  The  fast 
increasing  population  in  the  vicinity  was  becoming 
sensitive  in  regard  to  all  such  supposed  sources  of 


GREEX-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


69 


malaria,  and  it  seemed  not  unlikely  that  this  very  i§53. 
natural  apprehension  might  lead  to  municipal  inter-  * 
vention,  and  to  a  compulsory  filling  up  of  the  ponds." 

"  Under  these  circumstances,  the  Trustees  regarded 
it  as  an  imperative  duty  to  save,  if  possible,  these 
most  attractive  features  of  the  cemetery.    The  first  Creation  *>f 

•  reservoir. 

step  m  the  plan  adopted  was  the  creation  of  a  reser- 
voir on  one  of  the  summits  near  Sylvan  Water.  *  * 
The  experiment  was  perfectly  successful.  The  stag- 
nant waters  became  a  circulating  and  healthy  current, 
furnishing  a  sure  supply  for  all  the  ponds.  The  jets 
also  which  rise  from  these  several  basins,  though 
intended  mainly  for  ornament,  have  proved  highly 
useful  in  settling  and  clearing  the  water  when  dis- 
colored by  the  action  of  rains.  The  cost  of  these 
water-works,  though  conducted  with  a  constant  re- 
gard to  economy,  has  been  very  considerable.  The 
reservoir,  the  engine  and  engine-house,  the  well, 
several  miles  of  iron  and  earthen  pipe, — some  of  it 
large-sized, — and  the  excavation  necessary  to  connect 
the  ponds,  are  among  the  items  of  this  expense.  It 
was  an  outlay  in  regard  to  which  the  Trustees  could 
feel  no  hesitation.  Had  they  made  no  effort  to  pre- 
serve the  natural  waters  of  Green-Wood,  they  would 
have  deserved  condemnation  from  the  present  and 
from  all  future  generations.    The  operation  has  more  Benefice  1 

results. 

than  saved  those  waters,  for  it  has  endued  them  with 

new  life  and  beauty." 
11 


70 


GREEN- WOOD  CEMETERY. 


1851.  The  well  above  referred  to  was  begun  m  1853, 
^J^^  I  will  so  far  anticipate  the  course  of  events  as  to 
lrelL  make  a  finish  of  this  matter.  In  dry  seasons,  Sylvan 
"Water  was  found  to  be  inadequate  to  the  demands 
of  the  reservoir.  From  general  experience  on  Long 
Island,  it  was  supposed  that  a  well  of  large  diameter, 
sunk  only  a  few  feet  below  the  sea-level,  would  yield 
an  abundant  supply.  The  excavation  was  begun 
with  a  curb  twenty  feet  across.  Unfortunately,  they 
had  struck  on  an  argillaceous  deposit  of  extreme 
hardness.  The  digging  was  slow  and  laborious.  As 
the  shaft  descended,  it  was  found  necessary  to  insert 
other  and  smaller  curbs.  At  about  seventy  feet  from 
the  surface,  water  was  reached.  But  the  substratum 
there  being  a  lively  quicksand,  no  further  excavation 
was  attempted.  The  well  at  its  lower  end  is  six  feet 
in  the  clear,  with  twenty  feet  of  water.  About  half 
the  entire  supply  is  derived  from  this  source. 

The  digging  of  the  well  occupied  a  period  of  two 
years.    In  1854,  before  the  well  was  quite  done,  an 
weii-house  accidental  fire  destroyed  the  wooden  pump-house. 

burned.  §  ~ 

In  rebuilding,  the  engine  was  placed  under  the  dome 
of  the  well,  and  in  a  stone  vault  contiguous.  Here  it 
works  safely  and  silently. 


Appoint-       Mr.  D.  H.  McCoy  was  appointed  to  the  office 

inentofMr.  xx 

McCoy.  0f  book-keeper — a  responsible  and  important  posi- 
tion, which  he  still  holds,  to  the  satisfaction  of  all 
concerned. 


GEEEN-WOOD  CEMETERY.  71 

Number  of  lots  sold  973  1§51. 

Number  of  interments  5,234  k_ _ -v~— 

Eeceipts  for  lots  sold  $74,53*7  47  Statistics. 

Labor  account   54,281  04 

Gross  receipts  104,816  04 


72 


GREEX-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


1852. 

1§52.  This  was  a  memorable  year  in  the  armais  of  Green- 
Wood,  for  it  witnessed  the  largest  accession  that  Lad 
been  made  to  its  territory,  and  the  largest  sale  of  its 
burial-plots.  The  addition  was  one  which  had  been 
regarded  as  desirable  from  the  first.  It  consisted  of 
a  densely  wooded  strip,  hemming  in  the  eastern  bor- 
der of  the  cemetery,  and  extending  from  Martense's 
Lane  to  the  foot  of  Ocean  Hill.  The  land  belonged 
to  several  individuals,  and  some  of  it  had  been  in  the 
same  families  for  two  hundred  years.  This  valuable 
annexation  added  eighty-five  acres  to  the  ground, 
and  cost  from  §500  to  §G00  the  acre. 


Statistics  of 
'52. 


During  this  year  1,150  lots  were  sold.  There  were 
5,933  interments.  The  receipts  for  lots  were  over 
§97,000.  More  than  854,000  were  paid  for  labor, 
and  the  gross  receipts  were  about  §141,000. 


The  chapel      The  project  of  erecting  a  suitable  chapel  within 

project.  x     °  °  * 

the  grounds  was  again  brought  forward.  With  their 
enlarged  means  and  improving  prospects,  the  Trus- 
tees might  well  feel  justified  in  proceeding  to  carry 
into  effect  this  part  of  their  original  scheme.  At  the 
meeting  in  March,  the  Standing  Committee  was  di- 
rected  to  procure  plans  and  estimates  for  the  proposed 
structure.  The  same  committee  was  instructed  to 
devise  a  plan  for  the  investment  of  surplus  funds, 


GEEEX-W00D  CEMETERY.  V3 

and  to  suggest  the  objects  to  which  such  funds  should  1853. 
be  applied. 


Before  the  Gowanus  Heights  were  thought  of  for 

burial  purposes,  their  copses,  thickets,  and  little  lakes 

had  abounded  in  birds,  and  were  the  frequent  resort  of  Birds  in 

Green- 
sportsmen.    On  taking  possession  there,  the  Trustees  Wood- 

at  once  forbade  all  further  molestation  of  that  kind, 

and  the  consequence  has  been  a  manifest  increase  in 

the  number  of  these  welcome  little  visitors.    In  1852  Birds 

imported. 

an  attempt  was  made  to  naturalize  and  domesticate  a 
number  of  foreign  birds.  The  importation  consisted 
of  sky-larks,  wood-larks,  goldfinches,  thrushes,  robins, 
and  blackbirds,  of  species  unknown  here.  These 
birds  came  from  England,  and  were  obtained  through 
the  agency  of  ATr.  Thomas  S.  Woodcock — a  gentle- 
man with  whom  birds  were  a  study  and  a  passion. 

So  far  as  Green- Wood  was  concerned,  the  experi- 
ment failed.  The  strangers  were  let  loose,  and  told  a  failure, 
to  make  themselves  at  home.  But  they  would  not 
stay.  Where  they  went,  and  what  became  of  them, 
nobody  knows.  We  can  only  hope  that  they  found, 
somewhere,  a  place  and  a  climate  more  to  their  mind. 
Somewhere,  perhaps,  on  our  vast  continent,  they  are 
already  colonized  and  flourishing.  Possibly  the  lark 
may  yet  carol  in  our  morning  air,  and  find  a  legiti- 
mate place  in  American  poetry.  Appendix,  Part 
First,  No.  VI. 


74 


GREEN- WOOD  CEMETEEY. 


1853. 

1853.  The  Eeceiving  Tomb  early  erected  near  Arbor 
^  Water  having;  become  inadequate  to  the  wants  of 

Description  °  x 

Tomb!eivlDg  the  cemetery,  a  much  larger  structure  was  this  year 
erected  in  the  same  locality.  The  entrance  to  these 
catacombs  is  through  a  massive  and  handsome  facade, 
and  has  a  deep,  open  vestibule.  The  principal  inte- 
rior is  eighty  feet  deep  by  forty  feet  wide,  and  is  con- 
nected with  a  similar  apartment  which  measures  forty 
feet  by  twenty  feet.  A  spacious  aisle  runs  through 
it,  with  vaulted  apartments  on  each  side.  These 
contain  the  horizontal  cells  in  which  the  coffins  are 
placed.  They  are,  as  nearly  as  possible,  air-tight 
receptacles,  closed  up  when  in  use,  and  hermetically 
sealed.  To  each  coffin,  before  it  is  inserted,  a  metal- 
lic tally  is  attached,  corresponding  in  number  to  that 
of  the  cell.  Openings  through  the  arched  roof  and 
the  superincumbent  earth  provide  for  light  and  at- 
mospheric circulation.  Frequent  ventilation  and  the 
constant  use  of  inodorous  disinfectants  keep  the  air 
within  always  pure  and  wholesome. 

itsadvan-       This  tomb  has  been  found  in  the  highest  degree 

tages.  °  ° 

useful.  In  many  instances  death  occurs  where  no 
previous  arrangement  has  been  made  for  the  disposi- 
tion of  the  remains,  and  the  temporary  rest  of  the 
Receiving  Tomb  gives  time  for  selection  and  prepara- 
tion.   In  winter,  also,  when  it  is  difficult  to  dig 


GEEEX-WOOD  CEMETEEY. 


75 


graves,  this  tomb  is  always  ready  for  its  silent  guests.  l§53. 
In  bad  weather,  the  large  vestibule  has  often  afforded  ' 
shelter  to  clergymen  and  to  mourners  while  engaged 
in  the  funeral  service.    There  are  in  the  two  com- 
partments 361  cells. 

An  application  was  made  this  vear  for  some  amend-  Amend- 

11  "  monts  of  tho 

ments  to  the  charter,  which  resulted  in  the  Act  of  chart€r- 
June  Sth,  1853.  This  Act  authorized  the  cemetery 
company  to  hold  the  land  recently  acquired,  and  re- 
enacted  the  important  law  that  "  no  public  road, 
street,  or  avenue  shall  be  laid  out,  or  opened  over, 
upon,  or  through  the  lands  of  the  Corporation,"  spe- 
cifying carefully  the  streets  and  avenues  to  which 
the  statute  does  not  apply.  It  gave  to  the  authori- 
ties of  Flatbush  conditional  permission  to  make  a 
public  highway  along  the  southeastern  line  of  the 
cemetery,  and  defined  the  obligations  of  the  cemetery 
in  case  such  a  road  should  be  opened.  It  also  em- 
powered those  authorities  to  straighten  and  widen 
Martense's  Lane,  the  cemetery  to  give  half  the  land 
and  to  make  the  road.  Finally,  it  authorized  the 
Corporation  to  pay  assessments  for  the  grading  and 
paving  of  the  Fifth  Avenue  where  it  adjoins  the 
cemetery. 

The  permission  given  to  Flatbush  for  a  road  along  Permission 

for  a  road. 

the  southeastern  border  of  the  cemetery,  or  parallel 
(if  they  preferred  it)  to  the  Tenth  Avenue  of  the  City 
of  Brooklyn,  being  limited  to  five  years  from  the  pas- 


76 


GEEEN-WOOD  CEMETEEY. 


1853.  sage  of  the  Act,  expired  in  1858,  the  road  not  having 
^  been  made. 

Martense'B      The  narrow,  winding  road,  known  as  Martense's 

Lane.  7  °  ' 

Lane,  has  been  straightened  and  widened  in  conform- 
ity with  the  Act. 


Statistics.  Lots  sold  in  1853  1,143 

Interments  "7,187 

Sale  of  lots  $93,607  46 

Labor  account   72.429  03 

Gross  receipts   137,785  30 


GEEEX-W00D  OEMETEEY. 


1854. 

The  question  of  erecting  a  chapel  in  Green-Wood  1854. 
was  this  year  again  seriously  considered  by  the 
Board.  No  rural  cemetery,  without  a  chapel,  was  proposed- 
supposed  to  be  complete.  The  Trustees  had  early 
set  apart  for  this  purpose  a  central  and  commanding 
spot,  and  had  all  along  intended  to  put  up  such  a 
building  as  soon  as  their  means  would  admit.  Ac- 
cordingly, the  Standing  Committee  was  directed  to 
report  plans  and  estimates,  in  pursuance  of  a  resolu- 
tion of  the  Board,  adopted  in  1852. 

Some  important  provisions  were  at  this  tune  intro-  Prohibitions 

and  reqnire- 

duced  into  the  deeds  of  cemetery  lots.  These  forbid  mcnts- 
the  interment  in  Green-Wood  of  criminals  from  the 
prison  or  the  gallows.  They  require  the  indorsed 
consent  of  the  Company  to  make  any  transfer  or 
assignment  of  a  cemetery  lot  a  valid  act.  They  pro- 
hibit the  erection  of  tombs  above  ground,  without 
permission  first  asked  and  obtained,  and  they  require 
that  all  visible  stone-work  in  the  cemetery  shall  con- 
sist of  cut  stone. 


Lots  sold  in  1854  968  Statistics. 

Interments  8,084 

Receipts  for  lots  sold  $78,987  54 

Labor  account   69,498  82 

Gross  receipts  136,015  14 

12 


73 


GREEN- WOOD  CEMETERY. 


185  5. 

1§55.  A-  committee  of  finance,  "to  have  control  of  all 
'  v  '  investments  made,  or  to  be  made,  of  funds  belonging 

Committee 

of  Finance,  to  the  cemetery,"  was  established  this  year  by  the 
Board  of  Trustees.  This  important  charge  was  com- 
mitted to  Messrs.  Bay,  "White,  and  Yan  "Wagenen. 

chape?  e^aoora^e  P^an  f°r  the  cemetery  chapel,  with 

estimates  of  cost,  was  presented  by  the  Standing 
Committee.  As  the  proposed  expenditure  was  large, 
and  as  other  improvements  seemed  to  be  more  needed 
at  the  time,  the  building  was  deferred. 

An  unsightly  excavation  in  Section  74,  caused  by 
the  removal  of  gravel,  was,  in  1855,  converted  into 
Tombs  for  tombs  intended  for  sale.  These  vaults,  thirty  in 
number,  are  covered  with  earth,  and  are  reached  by 
means  of  a  well-lighted  and  well-ventilated  passage- 
way. Though  offered  at  a  price  much  below  the 
cost  of  a  single  vault,  they  have  not  proved  salable. 
A  few  of  them  have  been  disposed  of  to  individuals. 
It  is  probable  that  these  will  be  provided  with  a  sepa- 
rate entrance,  and  that  the  rest  will  be  kept  for  the 
general  purposes  and  requirements  of  the  cemetery. 


sale 


More 
ground. 


A  small  but  very  important  accession  of  territory, 
near  the  northwestern  corner  of  the  cemetery,  was 
made  this  year  by  purchase. 


GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


Lots  sold  in  1855  875 

Interments  6,592 

Receipts  for  lots  sold  $72,011  99 

Labor  account   74,520  21 

Gross  receipts  117,401  83 


T9 
1855. 

Statistics. 


so 


GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


1856. 

The  completion  of  the  new  engine-house  and  of 
the  water-works  already  referred  to  belongs  to  this 
year. 

The  usual  quiet  and  sacredness  of  the  cemetery 
Aggression,  were  slightly  disturbed  by  aggressive  and  lawless 
action  on  the  part  of  a  few  individuals,  who  attempted 
to  maintain  by  violence  certain  claims  in  regard  to 
the  tract  known  as  the  Chagot  lots.    An  appeal 
Green-      to  the  iudicial  tribunals  became  necessary.    It  re- 

Wood  in  0  J 

court.  suited  in  establishing  the  rights  of  the  cemetery,  and 
put  an  efTectual  stop  to  the  trespass.  Some  account 
of  the  origin  of  this  annoyance,  and  the  present  con- 
dition of  the  Chagot  ground,  is  given  in  Appendix, 
Part  First,  No.  VII. 


1§50. 


Water- 
works. 


Statistics.  Lots  sold  in  1856  802 

Interments  G,571 

Receipts  for  lots  sold  $00,546  38 

Labor  account   59,160  22 

Gross  receipts   114,498  95 


Engine  House — 1855. 


GREEX-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


81 


1857. 

Some  unfriendliness  to  the  institution  made  its  l§57. 
appearance  tin's  year,  in  intimations  of  an  intent  on  ' 
the  part  of  certain  persons,  supposed  to  be  interested 
in  another  cemetery,  to  get  authority  from  the  State 
for  carrying  the  Seventh  Avenue  through  the  heart 
of  Green- Wood.  The  menace,  whatever  it  meant, 
was  not  executed.    In  a  similar  snirit,  a  motion  was  Attempts  to 

injure. 

made  in  the  State  Legislature  for  the  appointment  of 
a  committee  to  look  into  the  affairs  of  Green- Wood 
Cemetery,  and  bring  to  light  any  iniquity  that  might 
be  lurking  there.  The  malicious  attack  met  with  no 
favor  from  that  body. 


The  price  of  cemetery  ground  was  increased,  in  Prices 

1  .  .  advanced. 

1857,  by  the  addition  of  twenty  dollars  for  each  lot. 


Although  this  was  a  year  of  great  commercial 
distress,  the  interests  of  Green-Wood  were  not 
materially  alTected,  as  appears  from  the  following 
exhibit : 


Number  of  lots  sold  G24        ?^?aticB  of 

-  -  r\  loOl. 

Xumber  of  interments  6,  <  <  9 

Receipts  for  lots  sold  $54,486  83 

Labor  account   55.591  95 

Gross  receipts  138,905  24 


82 


GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


1858. 

1858.      The  extension  of  the  Fifth  Avenue  along  the  west 
ern  side  of  the  cemetery,  and  on  an  elevated  cause- 
wcqstlrren  at  way,  made  it  necessary  either  to  close  the  western 
entrance.    en£rancej  or  |0  ^qqj)  it  open  by  means  of  a  bridge  or 

archway.  "  In  justice  to  numerous  proprietors,  who 
had  taken  lots  and  made  costly  improvements  in  that 
vicinity,  with  the  expectation  that  the  entrance  would 
always  be  kept  open,  the  Trustees  did  not  feel  that 
they  could  close  it.  The  convenience,  also,  of  an 
increasing  population  around  and  below  it,  as  well  as 
that  of  visitors  generally,  required  that  this  gate 
should  always  remain  for  egress  as  well  as  ingress." 
Accordingly,  the  Standing  Committee  was  directed  to 
proceed  with  the  necessary  work. 


r£lste?of  ^e  PrePara^ion  of  an  alphabetical  index  to  the 
interments.  Register  of  Interments  was  begun  this  year.  This 
great  task,  comprising,  at  the  present  time,  over  one 
hundred  thousand  names,  has  nearly  reached  its  com- 
pletion. Its  usefulness  will  well  repay  the  cost.  Any 
name  in  all  the  vast  collection  can  now  be  found  at 
once,  with  its  place  in  the  Register. 

BrSoort  ^n  c011^*!1161106  of  the  resignation  of  Messrs.  Le 
lit  low  b"  R°Y  and  Silliman,  Mr.  J.  Carson  Brevoort  and  Mr. 
Trustees.    Abiel  Abbot  Low  were  chosen  Trustees. 


GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


83 


At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  proprietors,  in  De-  1858. 
cernber  of  this  year,  the  usual  quiet  of  those  occasions  '     1  ' 
was  slightly  disturbed  by  an  effort  to  displace  several 
of  the  old  Trustees.    Xo  hint  of  any  such  intention 
had  been  given.    Mr.  Skeffinorton  Sanxay  came  for-  Mr. sanxays 

°  °  d  movement. 

ward  as  attorney,  with  a  number  of  proxies,  and 
threw  fifty-six  votes  for  himself,  for  D.  P.  Walden, 
S.  P.  Townsend,  F.  S.  Kneeland,  and  Henry  Spear. 
Fortunately,  there  were  votes  enough  to  re-elect  the 
retiring  members.  The  men  who  would  have  been 
set  aside,  had  this  attempt  succeeded,  were  William 
H.  Asplnwall,  Stephen  Whitney,  William  Augus- 
tus White,  and  Luther  Beadish. 

If  we  may  judge  from  its  sales  and  financial  returns 
in  1858,  Green-Wood  was  then  feeling  the  effects  of 
that  revulsion  in  business  which  made  the  preceding 
year  so  memorable  in  our  commercial  history. 


The  number  of  lots  sold  was  479        Statistics  of 

1S5S 

The  number  of  interments  7,779 

Receipts  for  lots  sold  $46,560  13 

Labor  account   52,501  34 

Gross  receipts   94,541  04 


84 


GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


1859. 

1859.      A  piece  of  land,  containing  about  twenty-three 
'  acres,  wbicb  iutted  into  the  cemetery  at  its  south- 

Purchase  of  0  ^ 

grouud.tense  eastern  corner,  was  bought  this  year  of  the  heirs  of 
George  Martense.  By  this  addition  the  outline  of  the 
ground  on  that  side  was  squared  and  completed.  It 
cost  §800  the  acre.  On  Twenty-fifth  street,  also, 
near  the  Fifth  Avenue,  a  small  addition  was  made  to 
the  ground,  by  way  of  protecting  the  entrance. 


changes  at      The  western  entrance  presented,  this  summer,  a 

the  western 

entrance,  "busy  scene,  the  great  archway  being  in  progress,  and 
several  buildings  undergoing  removal.  This  work 
was  made  necessary  by  the  projection  of  the  Fifth 
Avenue  across  the  passage  way  to  the  cemetery, 
compelling  the  transference  of  several  structures  of 
considerable  size  from  one  side  of  the  avenue  to 
the  other. 


Statistics  of         Lots  sold  this  year  498 

'59-  Interments  6,590 

Receipts  for  lots  $46,642  56 

Labor  account   52,501  34 

Gross  receipts  119,931  23 


GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


85 


I860. 

Entrance  to  the  cemetery,  at  its  nearest  and  most  1860. 
appropriate  point,  had  from  the  first  been  prevented 
by  the  unaccommodating  course  of  a  few  individuals,  dlfficulties- 
who  owned  small  lots  on  and  around  the  northern 
corner  of  the  grounds.  These  embarrassments  had 
been  gradually  disappearing,  and  the  last  of  them 
was  this  year  removed.  Having  now  full  possession 
and  ready  access,  the  company  at  once  took  the 
requisite  steps  for  erecting  and  opening  a  northern  a  northern 

1  x  j.  o  entrance  to 

gateway  as  the  main  entrance.    The  point  selected  be  made- 
is  just  below  the  eastern  termination  of  Twenty-fifth 
street,  and  only  a  short  distance  from  the  Fifth 
Avenue,  being  a  half-mile  nearer  the  city  than  the 
western  gate. 

The  archway  near  the  gate  "just  mentioned — a  piece  The  arch- 

*  °        °  x  way  coni- 

of  masonry,  solid  and  admirable ;  a  symmetrical, pleted< 
beautiful,  and  time-defying  structure — was  brought 
this  year  to  a  conclusion. 

A  short  iron  post,  bearing  the  number  in  raised  Numbered 

J-        1  posts  are 

letters,  was  placed  on  every  one  of  the  cemetery  sec-  jSSot?*116 
lions.    Its  locality  in  the  section  is  denoted  on  the 
map  by  a  diminutive  cross.    Aided  by  these  land- 
marks, the  dullest  scholar,  with  map  in  hand,  may 
readily  ascertain  in  what  part  of  the  ground  he  is. 

13 


80 


GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


1§60.  A  plan  of  much  pretension  was  this  year  brought 
1     Y     '  forward  for  the  extermination  of  the  tree- worm  in 

The  11  tree- 
worm."      Brooklyn.    A  pamphlet  came  out  which  professed 

to  tell  all  about  the  matter.  As  the  pest  was  getting 
near  to  Green- Wood,  and  threatened  serious  annoy- 
ance, a  small  investment  was  made  in  the  worm- 
killing  enterprise.  Unfortunately,  the  project  was 
an  utter  failure.  Happily,  the  disgusting  plague  has 
not  yet  made  its  appearance  among  the  trees  of 
Green-Wood.  But  how  long  can  we  expect  such 
exemption  ? 


Statistics.  Lots  sold  in  1860  695 

Interments  8,033 

Receipts  for  lots  sold  359,855  71 

Labor  account   G  1,62 8  7 7 

Total  receipts   125,113  75 


Annual         On  the  3d  of  December,  at  the  regular  meeting  of 

meeting  and 

contested    the  lot-owners  for  this  year,  a  second  attempt  was 

election.  »        '  x 

made  to  prevent  the  re-election  of  the  old  members 
of  the  Board.  For  some  time  before  the  meeting 
the  malcontents  had  been  exceedingly  busy  in  their 
endeavors  to  create  a  prejudice  against  the  Trustees. 
To  this  end  circulars  were  printed  and  distributed 
among  the  lot-holders;  articles  of  censure  and  dis- 
paragement appeared  in  the  newspapers,  and  proxies 
were  earnestly  solicited. 

Misstate-       The  circular,  which  was  issued  in  different  forms, 

inents. 

and  which  was  copied  into  some  of  the  daily  prints, 
began  with  this  remark :  "  The  fact  is  not  generally 


GKEEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


87 


known,  that  every  owner  of  a  lot  is  virtually  a  stock-  l§80. 
holder,  and  as  such  is  directly  interested  in  the  funds  v 
and  property  of  the  cemetery,  and  entitled  to  partici- 
pate in  any  profits  arising  from  the  same." 

In  the  "Rules  and  Regulations  of  the  Green- Wood 
Cemetery,"  a  pamphlet  which,  from  the  first,  has 
been  issued  annually  by  the  Comptroller,  and  which 
has  been  put  into  the  hands  of  all  who  bought  lots  in 
the  cemetery,  or  who  chose  to  ask  for  it  at  the 
office,  the  Act  of  Incorporation  is  represented  as 
requiring  "  that  the  proceeds  of  all  sales  of  lots  shall  Quotations 

.  from  the 

be  applied  to  the  purchase,  preservation,  improve-  pj^f* :m  J 
ment,  and  embellishment  of  the  cemetery,  and  to  the  tious- " 
incidental  expenses  thereof,  and  to  no  other  turpose 
whatever."  It  stated  "  that  purchasers  of  lots  ac- 
quire not  merely  the  privilege  of  burial,  but  also  the 
fee-simple  of  the  ground  which  they  purchase ;  that 
they  are  the  sole  proprietors  of  the  cemetery ;  that 
by  their  vote  in  the  election  of  trustees  they  control 
the  government  of  the  institution ;"  and  "  that  as  all 
receipts  of  the  institution  must  be  expended  in  the 
purchase,  improvement,  and  preservation  of  the 
grounds,  no  speculative  interest  can  conflict  with  the 
wishes  of  the  lot-owmers  respecting  its  management." 
The  pamphlet  contained,  also,  a  copy  of  the  Act. 

If,  as  the  circular  alleged,  the  lot-owners  generally 
did  not  know  that  they  were  the  actual  proprietors 
of  Green- Wood,  their  ignorance  certainly  could  not 


I 


88  GREEN- WOOD  CEMETERY. 

I860,  be  ascribed  either  to  the  action  or  the  neglect  of 
'  Y  '  the  Trustees.  But  they  were  also  unaware  that  they 
were  "entitled  to  participate  in  any  profits  arising 
from  the  same."  If  this  mean  any  thing,  it  meaus 
that  they  were  entitled  to  dividends.  In  spite  of 
evidence  clear  as  day  and  open  to  all,  it  asserted,  in 
fact,  that  the  corporation  of  the  cemetery  was  a  joint- 
stock  concern,  and  only  needed  to  be  placed  in  the 
right  hands  in  order  to  become  a  good  money-making 
affair.  "Whether  those  statements  sprang  from  actual 
ignorance  in  regard  to  the  real  state  of  the  case,  or 
from  an  intent  to  mislead  (and  their  authors  can 
one  thing    elect  as  between  the  two  horns),  one  thing  was  per- 

proved. 

fectly  clear :  if  a  change  of  management  were  needed, 
these  were  not  the  men  to  inaugurate  reform. 


So,  evidently,  thought  and  felt  a  great  majority  of 
the  lot-owners.     The  annual  meeting  was  largely 
attended.     The  result  showed  that  the  lot-holders, 
generally,  were  well  satisfied  with  the  management 
The  opposi-  of  the  Institution,  and  desired  no  change.    The  retir- 

tion 

defeated.  jng  trustees  were  re-elected  by  very  large  majorities.* 
The  charge      One  of  the  charges  much  relied  on  by  the  movers 

that  no 

reports  had  in  this  opposition  was,  that  no  statement  of  the  finan- 

bcen  pub-  -1-  x  ' 

iished.       c»a|  affajrs  0f  Green-Wood  had  ever  been  published. 

*  Clinton  Gilbert,  John  L.  De  Camp,  James  Bell,  Gerrit  Smith,  and 
Henry  Story,  received  171  votes  each.  Abiel  Abbot  Low,  Russell 
Stebbins,  John  C.  Green,  Henry  E.  Pierrepont,  and  Joseph  A.  Perry, 
had  each  1,307  votes. 


GREEX-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


89 


It  is  true  that  the  Trustees  had  never  published  any  l§6». 
report  of  their  business  transactions.  They  probably  g~we^ti0^  J 
thought  it  enough  to  know  that  those  transactions  ™££he 
were  justly  and  properly  conducted;  that  their  ac- 
counts were  duly  kept  and  vouched ;  and  that  a  full 
and  minute  record  of  every  thing  received  and  paid 
by  their  officers  was  entered  on  the  books  of  the 
cemetery ;  that  these  accounts  were  fully  reported  at 
every  annual  meeting,  and  were  always  open  to  the 
inspection  of  every  lot-owner  who  might  wish  to  look 
into  those  books.  In  strict  conformity  with  the 
imperative  requirement  of  their  charter,  they  had 
devoted  to  the  improvement  and  embellishment  of 
the  cemetery  all  their  receipts  beyond  what  was 
needed  for  current  expenses.  Their  fidelity  in  this 
respect  needed  no  better  proof  than  that  which 
was  seen  in  the  neatness  and  order  that  reigned 
throughout  the  grounds,  and  in  their  constantly  in- 
creasing usefulness  and  beauty.  They  thought,  per- 
haps, that  these  facts,  being  open  to  the  observation 
of  all,  were,  so  far  as  the  lot-owners  were  concerned, 
evidence  sufficient  that  the  only  interest  which  they 
had  in  Green- Wood  was  not  neglected. 

However  this  may  have  been,  on  motion  of  the 
Comptroller,  thev  decided  at  once  to  publish  the  Resolve  to 

1  '         J  r  publish. 

entire  financial  history  of  the  Institution.  This  Re- 
port to  the  Lot-Owners,  which  came  out  soon  after, 
gives  every  item  of  receipts  and  of  expenditures  for 
the  first  twenty-two  years.    It  was  the  only  notice 


00 


GEEEX-WOOD  CEMETEET. 


1§60.   taken  by  the  Trustees  of  the  charges  and  insinuations 
s"    v     '  against  them  which  had  been  so  industriously  circu- 
lated, nor  could  they  desire  a  more  complete  vindica- 
TheEcport  tion  than  that  which  those  figures  presented.  In 

id  also  a  o  j. 

refutation,  ^hat  pamphlet,  and  in  three  annual  reports  which 
have  appeared  since,  the  lot-owners  and  the  public 
can  find  the  whole  history  of  Green-Wood  Cemetery, 
so  far  as  it  relates  to  financial  concerns. 


It  was  undoubtedly  fortunate  for  the  institution, 
and  for  all  who  are  truly  interested  in  the  preserva- 
tion and  improvement  of  its  grounds,  that  this  at- 
tempt to  get  the  control  of  its  affairs  was  unsuccessful. 
a  danger  to  The  fact  reveals  a  danger  which  will  always  exist, 

be  watched  °  ^ 

Opened  anc*  fr°m  which,  unhappily,  no  associated  enterprise, 
however  useful  or  benevolent,  seems  to  be  exempt. 
From  the  control  of  intriguing  politicians — from  the 
polluting  touch  of  selfishness  and  avarice — let  us 
hope  that  Green-Wood  may  long  be  spared. 

At  the  regular  meeting  of  the  Board,  held  Decem- 
ber 12,  a  few  days  after  the  contested  election,  the 
statement  Comptroller,  Mr.  Perry,  whose  management  of  the 
tiouer.  institution  had  been  assailed  by  the  party  in  opposi- 
tion with  assertions  that  he  had  abused  his  office  to 
enrich  himself,  took  occasion  to  give  a  history  of  the 
cemetery  enterprise,  recounting  the  difficulties  which 
attended  its  outset,  and  the  personal  sacrifices  which 
he  had  made  in  devoting  himself  to  its  interests.  As 
objections  had  been  made  to  the  investment  of  some 


GREEX-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


91 


part  of  the  cemetery  funds,  he  explained  the  circum-  l§60. 
stances  under  which,  in  1854,  he  had  bought  stock  v— ~* 
for  the  cemetery,  in  the  Watertown  and  Rome  Rail- 
road.   He  believed  the  purchase  a  good  one  at  the 
time,  and  under  that  conviction  made  a  considerable 
investment  for  himself.    Although  the  stock  was  now  Railroad 

stock  and 

at  a  discount,  he  still  had  faith  in  its  value  and  ulti-  bomls- 
mate  recovery,  and  the  shares  in  question  had  yielded 
an  annual  average  dividend  of  more  than  five  per 
cent,  ever  since  they  were  bought.  Still  he  had 
become  convinced  that  railway  stocks,  however  stable 
and  remunerative,  are  a  kind  of  property  in  which 
public  institutions  like  the  Green-Wood  Cemetery 
ought  not  to  place  their  funds.  As  he  had  made  the 
investment  referred  to  on  his  own  responsibility,  he 
was  unwilling  that  the  Trustees  should  bear  an 
odium  which  they,  at  least,  did  not  deserve.    He  Proposal 

J '  '  from  the 

proposed,  therefore,  to  assume  the  stocks  and  dividend  samc- 
bonds  at  the  amount  charged  on  the  Company's 
books,  to  wit,  §14,875,  and  to  put  in  their  place 
securities  which  should  be  satisfactory.  The  pro- 
posal was  acceded  to,  though  not  without  some  hesi- 
tation on  the  part  of  the  Trustees,  who  regarded  this 
action  as  uncalled  for  on  the  part  of  the  Comptroller. 
Bonds  and  mortgages  on  Brooklyn  property,  to  the 
full  value  named  above,  were  substituted  for  the  rail- 
road stocks  and  bonds.  I  find  later  on  the  Record  a 
resolve  of  the  Board,  which  shows  that  this  honorable 
act  was  fully  appreciated  by  that  body. 


92 


GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


1861. 

1861.  The  most  important  event  of  this  year,  so  far 
' — ^       as  Green- Wood  was  concerned,  was  an  advance  in 

Advance  in 

price  of  lots,  -j-]^  price  of  lots,  and  of  graves  in  the  public  lots — an 
advance  which  brought  them  "nearer  to  their  true 
value  and  to  the  rates  established  by  other  ceme- 
teries." The  motives  to  this  measure  are  thus  stated 
in  the  report  for  the  year:  "The  step  referred  to 
was  taken  only  after  the  most  careful  consideration 
and  much  statistical  calculation.  By  means  of  a 
computation  founded  on  the  number  of  unsold  lots, 
on  our  annual  average  sales  and  receipts  from  other 
quarters  for  the  last  five  years,  and  on  our  annual 
average  expenses  for  the  same  period,  it  was  easy  to 
foresee  the  probable  financial  condition  of  the  ceme- 

Reasonsfor  terJ  a^  any  given  time  for  a  series  of  years  ahead. 

cbangneSthl3  It  is  by  these  data  that  the  Trustees  have  been 
guided  in  graduating  the  prices  of  ground  in  Green- 
Wood,  their  great  and  sole  object  being  to  perfect 
all  improvements  begun  or  needed ;  to  preserve  un- 
impaired the  present  order  and  beauty  of  the  ceme- 
tery ;  and  to  have,  when  the  income  from  sales  shall 
cease,  a  fund  laid  up,  the  interest  of  which  shall  be 
amply  sufficient  to  keep  the  grounds  in  neatness  and 
repair  forever." 


The  fact  that  the  older  portion  of  the  cemetery 
had  been  first  taken  up  and  was  nearly  all  sold,  of 


GREEX-W00D  CEMETERY. 


93 


course,  added  largely  to  the  value  of  the  lots  still  1.861. 
remaining  in  that  part  of  the  ground.    As  compared 
with  truly  successful  cemeteries  in  or  near  other  wood  coui- 
large  cities,  the  price  of  ground  in  Green-Wood  had  Stier  *lth 

cemeteries. 

all  along  been  low.  At  §130  the  lot,  which  was  the 
price  after  1857,  the  purchaser  got  his  land  for  about 
thirty-four  cents  a  foot,  or  for  thirty  cents  if  he  took 
four  lots.  In  Laurel  Hill  Cemetery,  at  that  time, 
the  price  was  seventy-five  cents  a  foot.  A  com- 
parison with  Mount  Auburn  showed  a  still  wider 
difference.  For  a  lot  in  that  mother  of  American 
rural  cemeteries,  the  minimum  price  was  Si 50,  while 
the  best  and  most  desirable  ground  readily  com- 
manded two  dollars  a  foot.  Even  since  the  advance 
on  land  in  Green-Wood,  the  highest  sum  yet  received 
for  a  lot  there  is  nearly  three  hundred  dollars  less 
than  is  paid  for  the  same  space  in  the  best  parts  of 
Mount  Auburn. 


The  wisdom  of  this  change  has  been  demonstrated  Favorable 

°  result  of  the 

by  the  results.    The  higher  priced  ground  seems  to  chanse- 
be  most  sought  after,  and  there  has  been  no  diminu- 
tion in  the  number  of  sales. 


A  palisade  fence  of  iron  was  this  year  set  up  upon  iron  fenco. 
the  western  side  of  the  ground.  Previously  to  this 
time,  the  erection  of  a  permanent  fence  had  been 
prevented,  partly  by  the  constantly  varying  line  of 
the  boundary,  and  partly  by  the  unfinished  grading 
of  the  streets  that  adjoin  the  cemetery.    As  the 


94 


GREEN- WOOD  CEMETERY. 


186 1.  Fifth  Avenue  was  at  last  completed,  no  further 
'  v  '  change  of  surface  or  of  bounds  was  to  be  appre- 
hended there.  This  important  work  is  thus  described 
in  the  Report  for  1861 :  "  It  is  a  substantial  fence, 
eight  feet  high.  Its  horizontal  bars  are  attached  to 
the  iron  posts  by  a  new  and  ingenious  arrangement, 
adding  much  to  its  firmness.  The  posts  themselves, 
unencumbered  by  lateral  braces,  are  solidly  fixed  in 
large  masses  of  concrete,  extending  four  feet  below 
the  surface,  and  the  result  is  a  structure  in  which 
neatness  and  strength  are  admirably  combined.  By 
its  height,  by  the  nearness  of  the  pales,  and  by  the 
total  absence  of  projecting  ornament,  this  fence  oilers, 
it  is  believed,  entire  security  against  intrusion,  while 
it  freely  admits  the  light  and  air."  The  iron  em- 
ployed was  imported  from  England  in  the  lengths 
required,  and  on  highly  favorable  terms.  Nearly  a 
mile  of  the  cemetery  border  already  enjoys  the  pro- 
tection of  this  strong  and  handsome  palisade,  and  it 
will  be  extended  until  it  takes  in  the  whole. 


water  'Water  from  the  city  mains  was  this  year  brought 

introduced. 

into  the  cemetery.  All  the  buildings  are  now  sup- 
plied from  this  source.  From  one  or  two  hydrants 
within  the  grounds  water-carts  are  rilled,  and  this 
convenience  is  to  be  extended. 


a  new  jet.  By  means  of  an  ornamental  jet  which  was  this 
year  attached  to  the  supply-pipe  of  the  reservoir,  the 
projected  water  is  made  to  play  and  sparkle  for  a 


Fountain  and  Reservoir  on  Fountain  Hill. 


GEEEX-WOOD  CEMETEIiY. 


95 


moment  in  the  air  before  it  Mis  into  the  basin.    As  1§61. 
the  liquid  element  is  no  less  useful  than  before,  this  v    v  ' 
"  thing  of  beauty"  is  so  much  clear  gain. 

A  new  guide-map  of  Green-AVood  was  brought  out  a  new  map. 
in  1861,  with  very  considerable  changes  in  the  nomen- 
clature of  the  roads  and  avenues.  The  Torn,  which 
had  been  so  conspicuous  in  preceding  maps,  does  not  xames^ 
appear  in  this.  This  route  had  lost  its  early  impor- 
tance, in  consequence  of  the  general  growth  of  the 
cemetery. 

In  March,  1SG1,  the  Trustees  adopted  the  following 
regulation :  "  Resolved,  that  lot-owners  be  hereafter  Prohibition 

in  regard  to 

prohibited  from  planting  trees  or  shrubs  in  the  spaces  trees- 
around  their  lots,  except  consent  be  obtained  from 
the  officers  of  the  company." 

The  cause  of  this  prohibition  is  thus  stated  in  the  The  evil 

stated. 

report  of  the  year :  "  The  evil  which  this  rule  aims  to 
prevent  is  already  great,  and  it  is  constantly  and  fast 
increasing.  Few  people  whose  attention  has  not 
been  turned  to  such  matters,  are  aware  how  rapidly 
trees  grow,  especially  when  planted  in  fertile  and 
congenial  soil.  Trees  of  the  Pine  family  are  partic- 
ularly objectionable,  unless  placed  in  spots  where 
they  have  ample  room  of  their  own.  They  are 
wholly  unfit  for  narrow  borders  and  for  small  plots. 
Shooting  up  with  great  luxuriance,  they  soon  form  a 
dense,  dark  mass  of  verdure,  cutting  off  the  view  of 


96 


GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


1861.  every  thing  beyond  and  below  them.  Their  lower 
branches,  stretching  far  out,  almost  in  contact  with 
the  ground,  soon  run  across  paths  and  roads,  leaving 
no  remedy  but  the  axe.  To  remove  trees  which 
have  been  planted  with  solicitude,  and  whose  growth 
has  been  watched  with  something  like  parental  fond- 
ness, must  always  be  unpleasant.  The  better  way, 
clearly,  where  such  necessity  may  probably  occur,  is 
not  to  plant." 

For  a  more  particular  reference  to  this  subject,  see 
Appendix,  Part  First,  Eo.  Till. 

The  work  of  preparing  a  new  entrance  at  the 
northwestern  corner  of  the  cemetery,  which  had 
been  begun  the  year  previous,  was  steadily  prose- 
cuted during  the  year  1861.  To  bring  the  ground 
into  shape,  and  prepare  it  for  the  use  intended,  re- 
quired a  vast  amount  both  of  excavation  and  of  filling 
in.  A  house  was  prepared  for  the  Superintendent 
of  Interments,  a  stone  cottage  was  built  for  the 
porter,  and  a  stable  for  horses  and  wagons  employed 
on  the  ground.  The  gateway  structure  was  well 
advanced. 


Statistics  of        The  number  of  lots  sold  was  524 

1861,  The  number  of  interments  6,545 

Receipts  for  lots  sold  $58,262  46 

Labor  account   70,254  57 

Gross  receipts  179,812  04 


The 

northern 
entrance. 


Superintendent  op 


Interments' 


House. 


Stable,  Northern  Entrance. 


GREEN- WOOD  CEMETERY. 


97 


1862. 

A  tract  obtained  by  purchase  from  Mr.  Eobert  1S62. 
Martin  was  this  year  added  to  the  northwestern  cor-  .  ^ 

*  Another 

ner  of  the  cemetery.  This  land  was  needed  to  give  added.piece 
direct  and  easy  access  to  that  part  of  the  ground 
which  lies  east  of  it.  It  straightens  the  boundary, 
and  makes  the  outline  more  symmetrical.  Another 
valuable  result  was  the  closing  of  Twenty-fifth  street 
and  the  Sixth  Avenue,  which  must  otherwise  have 
been  kept  open.  The  land  thus  brought  into  the  lot 
market  is  of  the  choicest  kind,  and  the  Trustees  may 
well  regard  it  "  as  one  of  the  most  valuable  accessions 
ever  made"  to  Green-Wood. 


A  knoll  of  valuable  gravel  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Purchase  of 

°  ^  gravel. 

cemetery  was  bought  the  same  year.  The  supply  of 
this  material,  so  essential  to  the  good  condition  of 
the  roads,  is  believed  to  be  abundant  for  many  years 
to  come. 


A  skilful  photographer  was  employed  by  the  Trus-  Photo- 
tees  during  a  part  of  the  year  in  taking  views  of  the  views- 
principal  monuments  and  points  of  interest  in  the 
cemetery.  Nearly  one  thousand  views  were  taken, 
all  of  which  may  be  seen  at  the  office  in  Broadway. 
They  are  placed  in  a  series  of  stereoscopic  instru- 
ments, being  so  arranged  and  so  catalogued  "as  to 
admit  of  immediate  reference  to  any  view  required." 


98 


GEEEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


1§62.  As  a  means  of  reference  and  of  illustration,  they  have 
'  already  proved  exceedingly  valuable. 

Application     A  request  was  received  from  the  City  Council,  for 

of  New  York  1  J 

Sncii.  the  terms  on  which  the  Trustees  would  sell  a  hundred 
burial  lots  for  soldiers  of  Jsew  York  city  regiments, 
who  had  fallen,  or  who  might  fall,  during  the  war. 
"  Knowing  how  such  matters  are  too  often  managed, 
the  Board  declined  entering  upon  a  competition  with 
which  private  interests  and  aims  would  be  so  likely 
to  mingle." 

The  Trustees  declined  to  bargain  with  the  Alder- 
men ;  but  they  did  not  forget  the  poor  soldier  falling 
in  his  country's  cause.  On  the  28th  of  May,  1862, 
the  following  resolution  was  adopted : 

Free  inter-      "  Resolved.  That  the  Comptroller  be  authorized  to 

inent  oftered  ■*■ 

dierVof&ew"  appropriate  ground  without  charge,  for  the  interment 
whodiesin  of  all  the  soldiers  of  this  State  who  shall  have  fallen 

]i  is  country's 

service.  "battle,  or  shall  have  died  from  sickness  incurred 

while  on  duty  during  the  war." 

A  piece  of  ground  in  Sections  103  and  115  has 
accordingly  been  set  apart, — ample  for  the  probable 
requirement,  and  capable  of  extension  should  more 
be  needed, — and  numerous  interments  of  Xew  York 
officers  and  soldiers  have  already  been  made  there. 
The  spot  cannot  fail  to  become  a  point  of  interest. 
A  flag-staff  will  soon  be  erected  on  it,  and  the 


GEEEX-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


09 


national  ensign  will  not  cease  to  wave  over  all  that  1862. 
remains  of  its  former  brave  defenders.  See  Appendix,  *     Y  ' 
Part  Third,  No.  XYIH. 

It  is  proper  to  state  in  this  connection  that  a  good 
many  victims  of  this  unhappy  war  have  already  been 
buried  in  other  parts  of  Green-Wood,  among  their 
own  friends.  Let  not  their  last  resting-places  be 
overlooked  or  forgotten  by  the  community  for  whose 
sake  they  died. 

The  death  of  Mr.  Stephen  Whitney  is  noticed,  as  Death  of 

Stephen 

follows,  in  the  report  for  the  year :  "  During  the  year  Whitney. 
1862,  the  Board  of  Directors  lost,  by  death,  one  of 
its  original  members — Mr.  Stephen  Whitney.  This 
gentleman,  it  is  needless  to  say,  was  long  and  widely 
known  as  one  of  the  most  eminent  merchants  of  Xew 
York.  Though,  for  several  years,  he  has  been  dis- 
abled by  age  and  infirmity  from  taking  any  active 
part  in  the  affairs  of  the  institution,  he  deserves  to  be 
named  with  honor  for  the  interest  which  he  had 
shown  in  earlier  days,  while  it  was  comparatively 
poor  and  friendless.  Associated  as  he  was  with  the 
projectors  of  Green-Wood,  he  has  a  claim  to  be 
reckoned  among  its  founders."  See  Appendix,  Part 
Second,  iSo.  IX. 

Mr.  James  W.  Beekman  was  elected  a  Trustee  in  Mr.  Beek- 

man  elected. 

Mr.  Whitney's  place. 


100  GEEEX-WOOD  CEMETERY. 

1863.         Lots  sold  553 

^- — y— ^        Interments  6,387 

Statistics  of        Eeceipts  for  lots  sold   $63,171  71 

1&62,  Labor  account   65,359  17 

Gross  receipts   145,910  53 


GREEX-W00D  CEMETERY. 


101 


1863. 

This  was  the  most  prosperous  year  Green- Wood  1863. 
lias  known,  the  receipts  for  lots  sold  having  been  J^p^ 
greater  by  twenty  thousand  dollars  than  those  of  any  0U!5  year' 
equal  period  before.    "  This  success,"  says  the  Re- 
port, "  is  mainly  due  to  the  activity  of  business  and 
the  general  thrift  of  the  community,"  but  also  "  owes 
much  to  the  new  scale  of  prices  adopted  in  1861. 
The  wisdom  of  adopting  a  graduated  valuation  is 
fully  shown  by  the  fact  that  there  has  been  a  steady 
and  sometimes  eager  demand  for  the  higher  priced 
grounds." 

A  little  piece  of  around  at  the  southwestern  corner,  Another 

°  small  piece 

which  had  long  been  desired,  was  this  year  secured. annesed- 
While  this  acquisition  improved  the  boundary,  bring- 
ing it  out  to  Thirty-sixth  street,  it  furnished  a  safe- 
guard against  a  class  of  nuisances  "to  which  the 
character  and  position  of  the  ground  would  have 
offered  peculiar  facilities." 

A  portion  of  the  ground  on  Chapel  Hill  was,  bv  chapei  mn 

1  &  1  ?     "  offered  for 

order  of  the  Trustees,  offered  for  sale,  and  found sale- 
willing  purchasers  at  five  hundred  dollars  the  lot. 
This  central  and  beautiful  elevation  had,  it  will  be 
remembered,  been  carefully  reserved  as  a  site  for  the 
long-contemplated  chapel.  From  the  very  first,  the 
eventual  erection  of  such  a  structure  had  been  looked 

15 


102 


GREEX-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


1§63.  on  as  a  foregone  conclusion.  In  1855,  the  Standing 
'  *  Committee  had,  by  direction  of  the  Board,  presented 
the  plan  and  elevation  of  a  beautiful  and  appropriate 
edifice,  with  estimates  of  cost.  The  building  was 
indeed  postponed,  but  apparently  from  prudential 
considerations,  and  because  other  improvements  and 
expenditures  seemed  at  that  time  to  be  more  needed. 

a  change  of     The  recent  action  of  the  Trustees  in  reference  to 

views,  and 

duTed™"  the  reserved  ground  shows  that  the  question  of  a 
cemetery  chapel  has  taken  on  a  new  aspect  in  their 
minds. 


The  original  idea  of  a  chapel  in  the  rural  cemetery 
was  that  it  would  meet  a  religious  want,  by  furnish- 
ing those  who  should  bring  their  dead  to  be  interred, 
an  appropriate  place  for  the  funeral  service.  It  was 
supposed — and  naturally  enough — that  in  many  cases, 
if  not  in  a  majority  of  them,  such  a  chapel  would  be 
used  in  preference  to  any  other  place.  But  experi- 
ence does  not  always  confirm  the  expectations  of 
theory.    In  several  of  our  largest  and  most  successful 

Experienco 

of  other      cemeteries,  chapels  were  early  erected.    But  although 

cemeteries.  7        *  *  ° 

these  buildings  were  there  and  stood  freely  open, 
there  was  little  or  no  inclination  to  use  them.  The 
costly  edifices  met  no  want  of  the  community,  and  so 
were  practically  useless. 

In  view  of  these  facts,  which  came  gradually  but 
clearly  to  light,  we  can  understand  the  later  action 


GREEX-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


103 


of  the  Trustees  in  reference  to  a  chapel  for  Green-  1863. 
Wood.    They  were  not  so  unwise  as  to  repeat  an 
experiment  which  had  failed  everywhere  else. 

But  there  was  another  obiect  connected  with  the  The  idea  of  a 

*  building  net 

primary  conception  of  a  chapel,  which  remained  un-  qXecL*1*11 
affected  by  the  results  above  named.  I  refer  to  the 
design  of  devoting  a  portion  of  the  edifice  to  sepul- 
chral and  monumental  purposes.  This  idea,  I  have 
reason  to  think,  is  still  cherished,  though  modified  by 
the  change  of  plan  just  referred  to.  A  structure  in 
Green- Wood,  of  the  kind  supposed,  is  undoubtedly 
much  to  be  desired. 


One  obvious  and  great  advantage  of  such  a  struc-  suggestions 

in  favor  of 

ture  would  consist  in  its  accessibility  at  all  seasons.  JJ^Sto 
This  cannot  be  said  of  the  open  grounds.    For  a  1£SS5F* 

ary. 

very  considerable  portion  of  the  year,  and  during 
many  days  even  of  summer,  few  persons  would  think 
of  visiting  Green- Wood  except  on  business.  But 
neither  wet  weather  nor  wintry  desolation  would 
invade  the  sheltered  aisles  which  we  have  now  in 
our  mind,  and  hope  yet  to  see. 

Another  inducement  is  found  in  the  probability 
that  art  and  good  taste  would  thus  be  promoted. 
The  most  appropriate  and  pleasing  of  all  memorials 
are  those  which  come  from  the  sculptor's  hand.  Is 
there  any  better  monument  than  the  statue  or  the 
bust,  which  gives  us  back  the  very  features  of  the 


104 


GEEEN-WOOD  CEMETEET. 


1863.  dead  ?    In  the  whole  range  of  monumental  art,  can 
1     Y      any  thing  surpass,  in  suggestive  and  agreeable  effect, 
those  beautiful  conceptions  of  genius,  in  which 
thought,  and  feeling,  and  spirit,  even,  seem  to  stand 
before  us  in  bodily  form  ? 

But  to  expose  finely  conceived  and  exquisitely 
riotcction    wrought  marbles  to  the  severe  extremes  and  impair- 

ior  sculp-  o  -l 

ing  influences  of  oui"  capricious  climate,  seems  almost 
like  cruelty.  We  never  see  such  objects  abandoned 
to  the  tender  mercies  of  frost  and  storm,  without  feel- 
ings nearly  allied  to  pity  and  to  indignation.  It  is 
not  necessary  to  show  how  effectually  this  difficulty 
and  this  objection  would  be  done  away  by  the  con- 
templated structure. 

scope  for  the     And  would  not  the  sister  art  of  painting  also  share  .  ! 

j)cucil 

in  the  benefit  ?    Certainly  there  would  no  longer  be 
a  necessity  or  pretext  for  its  exclusion.    How  largely  I 
its  introduction,  under  proper  regulations,  would  con- 
tribute to  the  variety  and  to  the  expressiveness  of  the  I 
monumental  scene,  I  need  only  suggest. 

Here,  too,  would  be  a  fit  receptacle  for  our  illus- 
trious dead.  No  convents,  or  cathedrals,  vast,  and 
grand,  and  useless  for  all  other  purposes,  stand  ready 
here  to  receive  the  ashes  of  the  great  and  good,  or  to 
protect  and  preserve  their  monuments.  If  we  are  ever 
to  have  structures  rich  with  memories  and  associations 
akin  to  those  which  touch  the  coldest  heart  in  the 


GEEEX-WOOD  CEMETERY.  105 

great  sepulchral  temples  and  abbeys  of  Europe,  such  1863. 
structures  must  be  erected  for  this  express  purpose.  s    v  ' 
And  where  should  the  beginning  be  made,  if  not  in 
the  largest,  the  richest,  the  most  beautiful  of  ceme- 
teries, and  in  the  neighborhood  of  our  greatest  city  ? 

The  suggestion,  it  will  be  seen,  supposes  an  edifice 
of  large  extent  and  varied  adaptation.  But  it  does 
not  require  that  the  whole  should  go  up  at  once.  A 
single  wing,  perfect  in  itself,  might  be  first  erected — 
the  other  members  to  be  added  as  increasing  ability 
should  make  it  easy  to  comply  with  increasing  de- 
mand. It  seems  impossible  to  doubt  that  a  building 
where  perfect  catacombs  for  the  dead  below,  and  pleas- 
ant alcoves  for  their  monuments  above,  could  be  ob- 
tained at  reasonable  prices,  would  soon  pay  for  itself, 
and  more  than  pay.  See  Appexdlx,  Part  First,  No. 
VII.,  article  on  Mount  Washington. 


The  death,  this  Year,  of  Mr.  LuTnEE  Beadisie  de-  Death  of 

'  J        '  '  Luther 

prived  the  Trustees  of  one  of  their  most  useful  and  ^radish, 
most  valued  members.  Mr.  Bexjamin  II.  Field  was  Benjamin 
elected  in  his  stead.    See  Appexdlx,  Part  Second,  elected 

5  '  Trustee. 

No.  X. 


The  completion  and  opening  of  the  great  northern  completion 

1  of  northern 

entrance  signalized  the  spring  of  1863.    Mention  has  entrance, 
already  been  made  of  the  circumstances  which  so 
long  prevented  an  entrance  to  the  cemetery  at  the 
proper  point,  and  also  of  the  position  of  the  new  gate. 


106 


GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


1§63.   Nearly  three  years  of  labor  were  consumed  in  the 
V~^Y     '  preparation  and  shaping  of  the  ground,  which  was 
extremely  uneven  and  unsightly,  and  in  the  erection 
of  the  buildings,  most  of  which  have  been  put  up 
with  great  solidity  and  very  careful  finish. 

The  outer  Entering  by  a  gate  on  the  Fifth  Avenue, — a  gate 
closed  only  at  night, — the  visitor  is  within  the  pre- 
cinct of  Green- Wood.  An  esplanade  of  considerable 
extent  and  moderate  declivity,  whose  road,  and  path, 
and  lawn,  and  trees  are  all  in  the  nicest  order,  soon 
brings  him  in  front  of  the  great  gate. 


As  he  stands  before  the  structure,  which  is  placed 
diagonally  as  regards  the  main  lines  of  the  cemetery, 
he  will  perceive  that  the  central  portion  is  monu- 
mental in  its  form  and  character.  "With  its  spire,  the 
middle  tower  rises  to  the  height  of  one  hundred  and 
six  feet.  The  two  side  towers  are  ninety  feet  high. 
There  is  a  belfry,  whose  sad  voice  is  seldom  hushed 
during  the  day.  There  is  a  dial  to  count  the  hours, 
both  in  front  arid  rear.  The  springing  buttresses  and 
the  rich  tracery  give  fine  effect  to  this  part  of  the  edi- 
fice. High  above  the  two  gateways,  a  shield  on  the 
central  panel  of  each  gable  presents  in  full  relief  some 
allegorical  figure.  The  large  triangular  spaces  below 
these,  and  directly  over  the  gates,  are  filled  with  sculp- 
tured representations  of  appropriate  Scripture  scenes. 
The  two  ample  passage-ways  are  opened  and  shut  by 
massive  gates  of  the  portcullis  kind.    The  right  wing 


The 

structure 
doscribecl. 


GEEEN-WOOD  CE3IETEEY. 


107 


or  extension  is  devoted  to  offices  for  cemetery  busi-  1S63. 
ness ;  the  other  contains  a  resting-room  for  visitors. 

The  material  employed  in  this  beautiful  pile  is  the 
New  Jersey  brown  stone  from  Belleville — the  most 
valuable,  probably,  of  all  our  building-stones.  Its 
style  is  the  middle  pointed  English  Gothic — the 
architects,  Messrs.  Upjohn  and  Son. 

None  who  know  the  Gospel  narrative  will  need 
any  interpretation  of  the  stories  told  in  stone  over  sculpture, 
the  gateways.  The  entombment  of  the  Saviour  and 
His  resurrection — the  raising  of  Lazarus  and  the  resto- 
ration of  the  widow's  son — are  happily  embodied  in 
these  well-executed  groups  and  lifelike  forms.  They 
are  wrought  in  olive-tinted  sandstone  from  the  Al- 
bert quarries,  and  were  conceived  and  executed  by 
Mr.  John  Moffitt,  a  young  artist  of  more  than  com- 
mon power  and  promise.  The  four  allegorical  figures 
on  the  shields  are  from  the  same  hand. 

In  their  Eeport  to  the  Lot-Owners  for  the  year 
1863,  the  Trustees  speak  as  follows  of  the  new  en- 
trance : 

"To  this  structure — by  far  the  most  imposing  Extract 

w  #  from  report 

feature  of  Green- Wood,  and  its  fit  vestibule — we 
invite  your  special  attention.  It  belongs  not  to 
Pagan,  but  to  Christian  architecture.  Its  breadth, 
massiveness,  and  height  are  sufficient  to  invest  it  with 


108 


GEEEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


1§63.  dignity  and  impressiveness.  In  its  form  it  exhibits 
that  pleasing  union  of  firm  solidity  and  airy  grace, 
which  marks  the  best  specimens  of  Gothic  art.  In 
its  sculptured  pediments  it  presents  lifelike  pictures 
of  those  sacred  scenes,  which  have  consoled  and 
cheered  the  Christian  mourner  for  more  than  eighteen 
hundred  years. 

"  The  masonry  of  these  walls  is  of  the  most  skilful 
and  substantial  character,  while  the  material  is  one 
of  the  most  beautiful,  and,  as  we  firmly  believe,  one 
of  the  most  durable  of  all  our  building-stones.  Such 
is  the  structure  which  is  now  committed  to  the  care 
of  the  present  and  of  coming  generations,  in  full  con- 
fidence that  it  will  become,  as  years  roll  on,  more 
and  more  an  object  of  interest  and  admiration." 


The  porters     The  Porter's  Locl.^e  stands  in  the  outer  yard,  a 

lodge.  8  J  ' 

little  north  of  the  gate.    It  is  a  handsome  stone  cot- 
tage, of  similar  style  and  in  admirable  keeping  with 
stable  and   the  main  structure.    ISTear  to  it,  but  within  the  main 

tool-house. 

enclosure,  is  a  commodious  stable  for  the  horses  and 
wagons  which  are  in  constant  use  upon  the  grounds. 
In  the  rear  of  this  building,  and  in  architectural  har- 
mony with  it,  is  the  tool-house,  a  spacious  and  conve- 
nient repository  for  the  numerous  implements  required 
superin-     by  a  small  army  of  laborers.    The  house  near  by, 

lendenfs 

house.  occupied  by  the  Superintendent  of  Interments,  was 
purchased  with  the  ground,  and  has  been  fitted  up 
for  its  present  purpose. 


Porter's  Lodge.  Northern  Entrance. 


Tool-House. 


GEEEX-AVOOD  CEMETERY. 


109 


The  closing  of  the  old  gate  for  funerals,  and  the  1§83 
improvements  made  in  and  around  the  new  entrance,  y^JJT" 
have  brought  considerable  ground  into  the  lot  mar-  sr0Dnd- 
ket,  not  surpassed  in  value  by  any  portion  of  the 
cemetery.    Sold,  as  it  will  be,  at  enhanced  prices,  it 
will  go  largely  towards  defraying  the  cost  of  this 
great  improvement. 


FINANCIAL  STATEMENT  FOR  1863: 

Lots  sold  830  Qf"|"ce 

Interments  7,331 

Receipts  for  cemetery  lots  $117,183  73 

Labor  account   76,792  52 

Gross  receipts   175,312  55 


I  close  here  this  annalistic  sketch  of  the  Green-  conclusion. 
Wood  enterprise.  From  the  very  nature  of  the  case, 
it  is  a  dry,  and,  in  some  parts,  a  meagre  detail.  But 
it  will  not  be  without  interest  to  the  numerous 
owners  of  plots  in  the  cemetery,  nor  even  to  that  far 
greater  multitude  who  have  become  connected  with 
Green- Wood  by  those  ties  of  association  which  spring 
from  love,  and  which  live  in  the  memory.  It,  at 
least,  puts  on  record,  and  will  transmit  to  the  future, 
the  history  of  a  disinterested  and  benevolent  enter- 
prise, earned,  notwithstanding  its  early  difficulties, 
to  a  highly  successful  issue. 

He  to  whose  suggestion  the  cemetery  owes  its 

origin,  and  from  whom  it  received  its  first  impulse, — 

and  he  to  whose  unceasing  activity  and  care  it  is  so 
16 


110  GREEN- WOOD  CEMETERY. 

1§63.  eminently. indebted  for  its  large  success, — still  live  to 
*  v  '  advise  in  its  concerns  and  to  direct  its  affairs.  The 
Board  of  Trustees  is  distinguished  by  an  unusual 
amount  of  practical  business  talent  and  experience, 
and  is  surpassed  by  no  similar  body  of  men  in  the 
high  character  of  its  members.  "While  it  remains  in 
such  hands,  the  interests  of  Green-Wood  are  safe. 
To  its  myriad  of  individual  proprietors,  there  is,  so 
far  as  the  cemetery  is  concerned,  but  one  considera- 
tion of  any  importance,  and  that  is  its  perfect  pres- 
The  (larger  ervation.    Such  places  do  not  look  out  for  themselves. 

Judicious  oversight,  constant  vigilance,  unremitting 
care,  and  a  large  expenditure,  can  alone  prevent 
Green- Wood  from  becoming  a  spectacle  of  wide 
decay,  a  tangled,  impenetrable,  gloomy  wilderness. 
d«tyoftSd  If  the  lot-owners,  who  together  have  invested  millions 

lot-owners. 

of  dollars  in  the  improvement  and  adornment  of 
their  small  estates  at  Gowanus,  shall  ever  allow  the 
management  to  pass  into  incompetent  and  selfish 
hands,  the  beauty  and  glory  of  the  scene  will  soon 
pass  away. 


The  sentences  which  follow  form  the  conclusion 
of  the  General  Eeport  already  mentioned  more  than 
once.  I  insert  them  here  as  a  fit  ending  to  this 
narrative : 


"In  concluding  this  report  to  their  constituents, 
the  Trustees  may  be  allowed  to  make  some  allusion 
to  the  spirit  and  manner  in  which  they  have  dis- 


GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


Ill 


charged  their  important  trust.  They  make  no  claim  l§63. 
to  infallibility  of  judgment.  They  may  have  erred  v 
in  regard  to  particular  measures.  All  they  can  say 
is,  that  they  have  uniformly  done  that  which,  under 
the  circumstances,  seemed  to  them  the  wisest  and 
the  best.  Their  action,  and  the  reasons  of  their 
action,  have  ever  been  open  to  inspection,  as  they 
are  now  cheerfully  submitted  to  the  candid  consider- 
ation of  the  lot-owners.  For  their  entire  record,  the 
Trustees  feel  that  they  may  safely  refer  to  these 
financial  and  explanatory  statements,  and  especially 
to  the  noble  cemetery  which  has  grown  up  under 
their  care. 

"  The  idea  of  this  cemetery  originated  with  men  who 
are  still  in  the  Board  of  Trustees.  The  effort  to  estab- 
lish it  was  begun  at  a  time  of  extreme  business  depres- 
sion, which  lasted  several  years.  Amid  indifference 
and  discouragement,  by  private  advances  of  money  and 
credit,  and  by  untiring  personal  exertions,  the  enter- 
prise was  finally  placed  on  a  solid  basis.  Through 
all  its  subsequent  progress  it  has  been  watched  and 
nursed  with  unremitting  interest  and  care,  until  it 
has  attained  to  a  magnitude  and  value  which  place 
it  far  before  all  other  institutions  of  the  kind.  It 
was  the  desire  to  meet  a  great  public  want  that  first 
suggested  the  undertaking,  and  the  same  philan- 
thropic motive  has  controlled  every  subsequent  step. 
That  clause  of  the  amended  charter  which  requires 
that  the  proceeds  of  all  sales,  after  the  land  is  pjaid 


112 


GREEN- WOOD  CEMETERY. 


1§4MB.  for,  '  shall  be  applied  to  the  preservation  and  embel- 
"  Y  lislnnent  of  the  said  cemetery  and  incidental  expenses 
thereof,  and  to  no  other  pm-pose  whatever,'  has  been 
observed  with  nndeviating  fidelity.  This  provision 
was  wisely  designed  to  exclude  from  the  conduct  of 
the  cemetery  all  selfish  aims  and  action ;  nor  can 
there  be  any  such  action  so  long  as  this  requirement 
is  conscientiously  obeyed." 


APPENDIX. 


APPENDIX. 
Part  .first. 


"Ah !  never  shall  the  land  forget 

How  gushed  the  life-blood  of  her  brave — 
Gushed,  warm  with  hope  and  courage  yet, 
Upon  the  soil  they  fought  to  save  I" 


Once  this  soft  turf,  this  rivulet's  sands, 
"Were  trampled  by  a  hurrying  crowd, 

And  fiery  hearts  and  armed  hands 
Encountered  in  the  battle-cloud. 


I. — BATTLE  niLL. 


Ixdepexdextly  of  their  present  and  prospective  claims  to  regard,  Green- 
Wood  and  its  vicinage  must  ever  possess  a  strong  interest,  derived  from 
the  past.  In  that  vicinity — upon  ground  traversed  in  part  by  every  visitor 
to  the  Cemetery,  and  lying  immediately  below  and  around  it — occurred 
the  first  serious  conflict  between  the  British  and  American  troops,  on  the 
memorable  2Cth  of  August,  1776.  There  is,  indeed,  reason  to  believe  that 
the  very  spot  presented  in  the  plate  was  stained  that  day  with  patriot 
blood.  It  seems  strange  that  the  events  of  that  occasion,  and  the  localities 
of  those  events,  have  commanded  so  little  attention.  In  general,  our 
countrymen  have  shown  any  thing  but  indifference  to  the  spots  which  were 
hallowed  by  the  struggles  and  blood  of  their  fathers.  There  was  scarcely 
a  petty  skirmish  in  New  England  which  has  not  had  its  historian.  Every 
rood  of  ground  trod  by  hostile  feet  has  been  traced  and  identified.  Upon 
anniversary  returns,  thousands  have  assembled  to  collect  the  scattered 
bones  of  the  glorious  dead,  to  hear  their  eulogy  from  eloquent  lips,  and 
to  rear  some  enduring  monument  that  shall  transmit  their  names  and 
deeds.  What  battle,  since  that  of  ITarathon,  has  ever  concentred  upon 
one  small  spot  of  earth  an  interest  like  that  which,  for  seventy  years,  hag 


IT 


118 


APPENDIX. 


clung  round  Bunker  Hill  ?  How  have  the  historian  and  the  novelist,  the 
painter  and  the  architect,  the  poet  and  the  orator,  conspired  to  enhance 
its  glory!  How  many  millions  have  visited  the  spot,  to  see  with  their  own 
eyes  that  "sepulchre  of  mighty  dead,"  and  to  press  with  their  own  feet 
the  sod  which  was  wet  with  Warren's  gore ! 

In  contrast  with  all  this,  what  a  story  of  neglect  is  that  of  the  battle- 
ground  in  Brooklyn !  How  few  of  the  vast  population  in  its  vicinity  know 
or  care  aught  about  it !  How  very  few  could  even  designate  the  fields 
where  Sullivan  and  Stirling,  until  overpowered  by  an  enemy  in  their  rear, 
fought,  with  their  raw  levies,  the  veterans  of  Europe,  not  less  bravely  than 
did  Prescott  at  Charlestown,  or  Stark  at  Bennington ! 

Important  differences,  it  is  true,  distinguish  the  cases.  The  engagement 
at  Brooklyn,  like  that  of  Bunker  Hill,  was  a  defeat — but  not,  like  that, 
more  glorious  than  most  victories.  Instead  of  inspiriting  the  defenders  of 
freedom,  its  consequences  were  depressing  and  disastrous ;  and  the  day 
was  long  thought  of  as  a  day  of  mistakes,  if  not  of  disgrace.  The  ground 
itself  came  at  once  into  the  possession  of  the  British,  and  so  continued  to 
the  end  of  the  war.  The  standard  of  general  intelligence  on  the  island 
was  neither  then,  nor  for  a  good  while  thereafter,  very  high,  while  that  of 
patriotism  was  decidedly  low.  The  popular  enthusiasm,  so  ardent  else- 
where, was  here  unfelt,  or  for  so  long  a  time  repressed,  that  silence  and 
indifference  in  regard  to  the  matters  in  question  became  habitual,  and 
have  never  been  disturbed.  Such,  it  is  believed,  are  some  of  the  causes  of 
a  neglect  which  is  more  easily  accounted  for  than  justified. 

It  is  due  to  the  brave  combatants  of  that  day,  that  their  names  and 
deeds  should  be  remembered  and  commemorated,  in  common  with  many 
others — more  distinguished,  only  because  they  were  more  fortunate.  To 
this  end  we  contribute  our  mite.  "We  would  induce  some  of  the  countless 
visitors  of  Green-Wood  to  turn  aside,  and  stand  upon  the  spot  where  their 
fathers  once  stood,  "shoulder  to  shoulder  in  the  strife  for  their  country." 
At  least  we  would  have  them  know,  as  they  ride  along,  that  the  very  earth 
beneath  them  was  reddened  in  the  conflict  which  secured  to  them  their 
great  and  fair  inheritance. 

The  unsparing  hand  of  improvement  is  fast  sweeping  away,  not  only 
the  vestiges  of  all  the  old  defences,  but  the  very  hills  on  which  they  were 
raised,  at  such  expense  of  treasure  and  toil.  Even  the  more  distant 
grounds,  beyond  the  lines  of  circumvallation,  upon  which  the  fight 
occurred,  have  in  some  instances  been  materially  changed.    The  actors  in 


BATTLE  HILL. 


119 


those  scenes  are  all  gone.  Of  traditionary  information  but  little  can  now 
be  gleaned,  and  that  little  will  soon  have  perished. 

That  the  British  would  make  an  early  and  vigorous  effort  to  obtain 
possession  of  the  waters  and  city  of  New  York,  was  anticipated  almost  at 
the  commencement  of  the  struggle.  The  difficulty  of  defending  it  against 
a  powerful  army  and  fleet,  which  resulted  from  its  position,  was  not 
diminished  by  the  well-known  disaffection  to  the  revolutionary  cause  that 
existed  among  the  inhabitants.  But  the  object  was  regarded  as  of  pre- 
eminent importance.  The  magnitude  of  the  city  itself,  its  convenient  and 
accessible  waters,  and  particularly  its  position  of  command — at  one 
extremity  of  the  great  communicating  line  between  the  Atlantic  and 
Canada — were  deemed  reasons  sufficient  for  maintaining  the  place  at 
almost  any  hazard. 

As  early  as  February,  177G,  General  Lee  was  ordered,  with  a  small 
force,  to  New  York,  to  guard  against  apprehended  danger  from  Sir  Henry 
Clinton  and  the  Tories.  Defensive  works  were  begun  under  his  direction, 
and  continued  to  be  prosecuted  by  Lord  Stirling  and  others,  until  the 
arrival  of  "Washington,  in  April.  For  four  months  more,  the  work  of 
fortifying  went  on  under  his  eye,  and  the  most  strenuous  efforts  were 
made  to  provide  a  sufficient  defence  against  the  expected  attack.  At  the 
end  of  June  the  British  fleet  and  army  began  to  arrive,  and  took  imme- 
diate possession  of  Staten  Island.  By  the  first  of  August,  a  powerful  fleet 
and  thirty  thousand  men  were  stationed  on  and  around  it.  It  was  this 
strong  naval  and  land  armament  which  the  American  general  was  expected 
to  oppose  and  repel.  The  advantage  seemed  to  be  greatly  on  the  side  of 
the  enemy.  An  army  mostly  of  militiamen,  who  had  seen  no  service,  and 
knew  little  of  discipline — poorly  clothed  and  ill-paid,  with  few  of  the 
comforts,  or  even  the  necessaries  of  the  camp — scantily  provided  with  the 
arms  and  munitions  which  such  a  service  requires,  and  unsupported  by  a 
single  war-ship — were  to  make  good  their  ground  against  numbers  greatly 
superior,  accustomed  to  all  the  duties  of  the  drill  and  the  field,  and 
completely  furnished  with  the  whole  materiel  of  war. 

Being  in  total  uncertainty  as  to  the  point  of  attack,  the  American  com- 
mander was  compelled  to  scatter  his  forces,  and  to  man  a  great  extent  of 
lines.  In  addition  to  the  defences  on  Governor's  Island,  and  on  both  sides 
of  the  island  of  New  York,  extending  up  the  Hudson  and  East  Bivers  for 
many  miles,  it  was  thought  necessary  to  guard  the  western  shore  of  Long 
Island,  where  it  approaches  and  commands  the  city.    A  series  of  strong 


120 


APPENDIX. 


intrenchnients  stretched  from  Red  Hook  quite  across  to  the  Wallabout. 
The  woody  ridge  which  extends  along  nearly  the  whole  eastern  side  of 
Brooklyn,  was  guarded  by  detachments  and  pickets  posted  at  all  the 
openings. 

Such  was  the  position  of  affairs  when,  on  the  22d  of  August,  the 
British  commenced  landing  their  troops  at  Xew  Utrecht,  near  the  spot 
where  Fort  Hamilton  now  stands.  Four  days  afterward,  their  centre, 
composed  of  Hessians,  under  De  Hiester,  was  at  Flatbush;  the  right  wing, 
commanded  by  Lords  Cornwallis  and  Percy,  extended  towards  Flatlands; 
while  the  left  wing,  under  General  Grant,  rested  on  the  coast.  From  the 
American  camp  the  British  centre  was  four  miles,  and  each  of  the  wings 
about  six  miles  distant.  Very  early  in  the  morning  of  the  27th,  two 
brigades,  under  General  Grant,  advancing,  partly  along  the  coast-road,  and 
partly  by  Martenses1  Lane,  which  now  forms  the  southern  boundary  of 
Green-Wood,  drove  back  the  regiment  stationed  in  that  neighborhood. 
Lord  Stirling,  with  two  regiments  of  Southern  troops,  was  dispatched  to 
oppose  them.  The  day  broke  as  he  came  in  sight  of  his  foe,  whose  front, 
on  the  Gowanus  road,  was  then  a  little  in  advance  of  the  present  avenue 
to  the  Cemetery.  The  regiment  under  Colonel  Atlee,  which  was  retiring 
before  the  advancing  column,  was  immediately  stationed  on  the  left  of  the 
road,  near  the  point  where  Eighteenth  street  intersects  it.  The  other  two 
regiments  were  planted  farther  to  the  left,  on  the  hill  now  included  be- 
tween Eighteenth  and  Twentieth  streets.  A  company  of  riflemen  was 
posted,  partly  on  the  edge  of  the  wood,  and  partly  along  a  hedge  near 
the  foot  of  the  hill.  Some  relics  of  this  temporary  shelter  may  still  be 
seen — 

t;  There,  where  a  few  torn  shrubs  the  place  disclose." 

Having  made  his  arrangements,  and  while  momently  expecting  the  attack, 
Lord  Stirling  thus  addressed  his  men: — "  The  commander,  soldiers,  of  that 
advancing  column  is  Major-General  Grant.  !Not  long  since,  I  heard  him 
boast,  in  Parliament,  that  with  five  thousand  men  he  would  undertake  to 
march  from  one  end  of  the  continent  to  the  other.  He  may  have,"  added 
Lord  S.,  uhis  five  thousand  men  with  him  now.  "We  are  not  so  many; 
but  I  think  we  are  enough  to  prevent  his  advancing  farther  on  his  march 
over  the  continent  than  yonder  mill-pond." 

The  British  having  brought  forward  a  body  of  light  troops  to  within  a 
hundred  and  fifty  yards,  opened  their  fire,  which  was  returned  with  spirit. 


BATTLE  HILL. 


121 


After  two  hours'  fighting,  the  light  troops  retired  to  the  main  body.  The 
contest  was  continued  by  cannonade  for  several  hours  longer,  when  the 
noise  of  firing  in  their  rear  warned  the  Americans  that  an  immediate  retreat 
had  become  necessary. 

Unfortunately,  a  pass  on  the  extreme  left  of  the  American  lines  had 
been  left  without  any  adequate  guard.  Secret  foes,  who  knew  but  too 
well  the  ground,  had  apprised  the  enemy  of  this  advantage.  In  the  course 
of  the  night,  the  British  right  wing,  making  a  detour  through  Xew  Lotts, 
into  the  road  leading  from  Jamaica  to  Bedford,  was  thus  enabled  to  throw 
itself  between  the  American  detachments  and  their  camp.  The  troops, 
thus  assailed  by  a  fire  in  front  and  rear,  mostly  broke  and  fled.  General 
Sullivan,  with  about  400  men,  was  posted  on  the  heights  immediately  west 
of  Flatbush.  Though  attacked  by  overwhelming  forces  on  both  sides,  he 
bravely  maintained!  the  conflict  for  nearly  three  hours,  yielding  himself  a 
prisoner  only  when  farther  resistance  had  become  utterly  futile. 

"While  this  calamitous  affair  was  going  on  in  the  American  right  and 
centre,  Lord  Cornwall  is,  with  a  strong  force,  was  advancing  toward 
Gowanus,  and  had  already  secured  the  causeway  and  bridge  at  the  Upper 
Mills,  when  Lord  Stirling,  in  his  retreat,  came  in  sight.  His  men  could 
get  back  to  the  inner  lines  only  by  crossing  the  marsh,  and  fording  or 
swimming  the  creek,  at  some  point  below.  To  protect  them  in  this  diffi- 
cult and  dangerous  operation,  Stirling  advanced  against  Cornwallis  with 
400  men — ordering  all  the  rest  to  make  their  escape  as  best  they  could. 
The  conflict  of  this  forlorn  hope  with  the  veteran  troops  of  Cornwallis 
was  exceedingly  fierce,  and  at  one  time  all  but  successful.  But  new  and 
overwhelming  reinforcements  of  the  enemy  rendered  valor  and  patriotism 
alike  unavailing.  The  scene  of  this  struggle  is  supposed  to  have  been 
principally  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  ancient  Cortelyou  house,  still 
standing,  on  the  old  road  to  Gowanus,  with  the  date  1699  in  large  figures 
on  its  gable.  Numerous  skeletons  disinterred  in  its  immediate  vicinity — 
and  some  of  them  quite  recently — leave  little  doubt  respecting  the  locality. 

Stirling,  having  by  this  engagement  secured  the  safety  of  his  main 
body,  made  an  attempt  to  escape  with  his  small  surviving  remnant.  But 
he  was  now  hemmed  completely  in,  and,  submitting  to  his  fate,  he 
surrendered.  Several  historians — and  the  traditions  of  the  neighborhood, 
accredited  even  to  this  day — have  affirmed  that  large  numbers  perished 
in  attempting  to  cross  the  marsh.  The  same  statement  was  made  by 
General  Howe,  in  his  official  dispatch.    It  is,  nevertheless,  undoubtedly  a 


122 


APPENDIX. 


mistake.  A  letter  is  extant,  written  a  few  weeks  after  the  engagement 
by  Colonel  Haslet,  who  commanded  a  regiment  in  Stirling's  brigade,  and 
was  one  of  those  who  crossed  the  marsh.  He  states,  unequivocally,  that 
the  retreat  over  the  marsh  "  was  effected  in  good  order,  with  the  loss  of 
one  man  drowned  in  passing." 

There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  there  was  much  fighting  within 
what  is  now  the  Cemetery  inclosure.  But  sharpshooters  are  known  to 
have  been  perched  in  and  among  the  trees,  which  then  covered  thickly 
that  whole  range  of  hills ;  and  tradition  has  it,  that  one  small  party  of 
riflemen  was  surrounded  and  exterminated  on  the  very  eminence  pre- 
sented in  the  plate.  That  these  practised  marksmen  would  find  little 
mercy  at  the  hands  of  an  enemy  which  had  experienced  the  fatal  preci- 
sion of  their  aim,  was  only  to  be  expected.  In  one  instance,  at  least,  a 
British  officer,  unwilling  to  remain  the  object  of  their  too  partial 
attentions,  left  his  post  and  men,  and  took  shelter  in  a  neighboring  farm- 
house. 

As  the  bodies  of  the  victims  in  this  struggle  were  mostly  interred 
where  they  fell,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  Green-AYood  is  the  sleep- 
ing-place of  some  of  them.  It  is  time  that  a  spot  were  set  apart,  on  its 
most  commanding  and  beautiful  eminence,  in  honor  of  these  early  martyrs 
for  freedom.  Here  should  be  deposited  the  relics  which  have  been,  or 
from  time  to  time  shall  be  recovered,  in  the  numerous  excavations  now 
going  on  within  and  around  these  grounds.  It  may  be  difficult,  nay 
impossible,  to  distinguish  friend  from  foe.  It  matters  not.  To  the  sturdy 
Briton,  who  in  death  remembered  his  dear  island-home ;  the  poor,  hired 
Hessian,  whose  last  thoughts  were  of  his  wife  and  children  on  the  far- 
distant  Rhine ;  and  the  patriot  yeoman,  whose  dying  hour  was  sweetened 
by  the  reflection  that  he  fell  in  a  righteous  cause ;  to  each  and  all  an 
honorable  burial. 

"  Gather  him  to  his  grave  again, 
And  solemnly  and  softly  lay, 
Beneath  the  verdure  of  the  plain, 
The  warrior's  scattered  bones  away." 

And  here  we  may  allude  to  another  act  of  justice  and  gratitude,  which 
ought  not  longer  to  be  delayed.  It  is  well  known  that  the  remains  of  the 
American  prisoners  who  died  in  such  numbers  in  the  British  prison-ships, 
and  whose  bodies  were  huddled  into  the  earth  on  a  hill  in  North  Brook- 
lyn, were  a  few  years  since  piously  rescued  from  desecration,  and  con- 


BATTLE  HILL. 


123 


signed  to  a  vault  not  far  from  the  entrance  to  the  United  States'  Navy 
Yard.  This  arrangement — the  act  of  one  generous  individual — must,  of 
necessity,  be  regarded  as  temporary.  The  spot  and  structure  are  destitute, 
not  only  of  security  against  future  molestation,  but  of  the  dignity  and 
solidity  which  become  such  a  tomb.  Some  faint  efforts  have  indeed  been 
made  to  accomplish  their  removal  to  Green-Wood.  But  why  await  the 
tardy  action  of  the  General  Government  ?  Is  there  not  enough  of 
patriotism  and  gratitude  in  these  two  great  and  wealthy  communities  to 
raise  the  means  for  a  decent,  nay,  for  a  noble  tribute  to  those  unfortunate 
men,  who  died  for  their  country  as  truly  as  though  they  had  fallen  on  the 
battle-field  and  in  the  very  hour  of  victory  ?  Taken  while  defending  that 
country's  cause,  were  they  less  to  be  commiserated  while  living,  or  less  to 
be  honored  and  deplored  in  death,  that  they  were  compelled  to  ex- 
perience the  pestilential  damps  and  nauseous  horrors  of  those  dismal 
cabins  into  which  they  were  crowded  like  so  many  sheep  ?  How  many 
fond  husbands  and  fathers,  how  many  well-beloved  sons,  amid  those 
appalling  scenes  of  want,  sickness,  and  death,  must  have  sighed  for  the 
comfort  and  the  solace  of  the  homes  which  they  were  never  more  to  see ! 
But  we  forbear.  Our  strongest  conception  of  such  a  scene,  how  far  short 
must  it  fall  of  the  stern  reality !  In  that  masterpiece  of  reasoning  and 
eloquence,  the  Oration  for  the  Crown,  the  incomparable  orator,  arguing 
the  point  that  well-meant  endeavor,  and  not  success,  is  the  test  and  proof 
of  merit,  reminds  his  countrymen  that  their  funeral  honors  had  ever  been 
paid  to  all  who  fell  in  the  service  of  Athens — the  unsuccessful  as  well  as 
the  victorious  brave.  The  citizens  of  a  great  and  flourishing  state,  in  the 
brightest  era  of  civilization  and  Christianity,  should  learn  a  lesson  here 
from  pagan  Greece.  Must  some  Demosthenes  arise,  with  superhuman 
power,  to  explain  and  enforce  their  duty,  before  they  will  hear  and  obey 
its  dictates? 

The  position  assigned  to  Lord  Stirling's  troops  and  General  Grant's 
brigade,  in  the  plans  of  the  battle  which  accompany  Marshall's  History 
and  Sparks'  Washington — a  plan  which  has  been  lately  copied,  without 
correction,  in  Duer's  Life  of  Stirling — is  very  erroneous.  On  those  plans, 
the  contending  forces  are  placed  about  opposite  to  Yellow  Hook  ;  whereas, 
in  fact,  Stirling  did  not  advance  beyond  the  middle  of  Gowanus  Bay,  nor 
farther  south  than  a  hill  on  WyckofTs  grounds,  lying  between  what,  in 
the  future  topography  of  the  city,  will  be  Eighteenth  and  Twentieth 
streets.    There  was,  however,  if  we  may  credit  tradition,  a  little  fighting 


124  APPENDIX. 

in  the  neighborhood  of  Yellow  Hook — a  slight  skirmish,  not  noticed  in 
any  of  the  published  accounts,  between  the  advancing  British  and  Atlee's 
retiring  regiment,  in  which  a  few  lives  were  lost. 

The  Knickerbocker  Magazine  for  April,  1839,  contains  an  interesting 
article  on  the  battle  of  Long  Island,  prepared  from  a  discourse  originally 
delivered  before  the  New  York  Historical  Society,  by  Samuel  Ward,  Jr. 
It  is  illustrated  by  an  engraved  sketch  of  the  battle-ground,  which  is 
believed  to  be,  by  far,  the  most  accurate  of  any  yet  published.  The  plan 
was  drawn  by  Major  D.  B.  Douglass,  formerly  of  the  U.  S.  Army,  from 
personal  inspection.  The  major,  to  whose  energy  and  taste  Green-Wood 
Cemetery  is  largely  indebted,  had  examined  the  entire  battle-ground  with 
the  eye  of  a  soldier  as  well  as  surveyor,  and  the  sketch  which  he  furnished 
may  be  relied  on  as  authentic  and  complete. 

Much  has  been  written  respecting  the  causes  of  this  defeat.  The 
sudden  illness  of  General  Greene,  who  had  superintended  the  fortifica- 
tions, and  knew  all  the  circumstances  and  necessities  of  the  American 
position, — the  neglect,  consequent,  perhaps,  on  the  change  of  comman- 
ders, to  guard  properly  the  Jamaica  road, — were  doubtless  the  immediate 
causes  of  the  surprise,  the  rout,  the  capture  of  two  generals,  and  of  so 
many  soldiers. 

But  had  it  been  otherwise — had  every  precaution  been  taken — little 
more  conld  have  been  done,  or  was  probably  expected,  than  to  check  the 
advancing  foe.  The  American  forces  might  have  retreated  in  good  order, 
with  comparatively  small  loss — but  they  must  have  retreated.  Five 
thousand  raw  recruits — few  of  whom  had  ever  been  in  battle,  and  most 
of  whom  must  have  fought  without  cover — could  not  long  have  resisted 
twenty  thousand  well-appointed  veterans.  The  real  wonder  is,  that  they 
did  so  well.  It  was  the  first  fight  of  the  war  which  took  place  in  the  open 
field.  To  no  greater  trial  of  courage  could  those  patriot  but  unpractised 
soldiers  have  been  put.  Praise  to  their  memories! — most  of  them  stood 
well  the  test.  They  boldly  faced  or  repeatedly  charged  the  foe,  and  fled 
or  yielded  only  when  longer  resistance  would  have  been  madness  and 
utter  extermination. 

There  is,  perhaps,  no  period  in  the  revolutionary  struggle  to  which  we 
can  recur  more  profitably,  than  to  the  anxious  summer  and  the  gloomy 
autumn  of  1770.  The  courage  which  survived  such  disasters ;  the  hope 
which  lived  on  amid  so  many  discouragements;  the  faith  which  no 
reverses  nor  difficulties  could  shake,  and  which  finally  rose  triumphant 


BATTLE  HILL. 


125 


over  them  all — have  long  commanded,  and  must  ever  command  the 
wonder  of  the  world.  And  shall  they  not  awaken  something  more  than 
admiration  in  us,  to  whose  benefit  they  have  inured  so  largely  ? 

It  was  while  chilled  by  these  blasts  of  adversity — while  watered,  as 
it  were,  by  the  tears  of  those  great  spirits,  who  for  a  long  time  could 
bring  to  the  suffering  cause  little  besides  their  own  indomitable  energies 
— that  the  tree  of  freedom  was  sending  its  roots  outward  and  downward, 
and  gathering  strength  for  that  rapidly  expanding  growth  which  marked 
the  summer  of  its  prosperity.  It  is  not,  be  it  ever  remembered,  the 
magnitude  of  armies — the  masterly  tactics,  by  which  mighty  masses  are 
made  to  march  and  countermarch — the  brilliancy  of  the  charge — the 
steady  bravery  of  the  repulse — or  all  the  bloody  statistics  of  the  most 
ensanguined  conflict,  which  can  attach  to  military  operations  a  true  and 
lasting  interest.  A  hundred  terrible  battles  gave  to  Napoleon  a  fame 
unequalled  in  the  annals  of  war,  and  that  "  name  at  which  the  world 
grew  pale."  But  they  were  unconnected  with  high  principle — they  were 
followed  by  no  great,  benignant  results — and  in  the  sober  estimate  of 
future  times,  will  rank,  in  importance,  far  below  those  Fabian  campaigns 
which  laid  the  foundations  of  an  empire,  that  already  walks,  with  its  rank 
unchallenged,  among  the  foremost  powers  of  earth. 

Not  in  vain,  then,  was  even  the  defeat  of  Brooklyn ;  not  in  vain,  the 

anguish  with  which  the  usually  calm  spirit  of  Washington  was  that  day 

torn.    Not  in  vain  were  those  two  anxious  days  and  nights  which  he 

passed  on  horseback,  and  which  saved  from  death  or  captivity  nine 

thousand  men.    These,  and  more — the  reluctant  abandonment  of  the  city 

— the  cowardice  and  desertion  of  the  militia — the  loss  of  the  forts — and 

that  sad  retreat  of  the  reduced,  discouraged,  barefooted,  and  half-naked 

army  through  the  Jerseys — were  all  needed.    In  the  immortal  letters  and 

dispatches  of  the  great  commander,  and  in  the  painful  annals  of  the  time, 

we  read  the  cost  and  the  value  of  what  we  are  now  enjoying.  Without 

these,  we  had  not  fully  known  how  inherent,  how  enduring  and  elastic  is 

the  power  of  an  earnest  and  virtuous  patriotism.    Without  them,  even 

the  transcendent  name  of  Washington  could  not  have  filled  the  mighty 

measure  of  its  fame. 
18 


126 


APPENDIX. 


II. — THE  KEEPER'S  LODGE. 

"  A  voice  from  ' the  Green-Wood !— a  voice !  and  it  said, 
4  Ye  have  chosen  me  out  as  a  home  for  your  dead ; 
From  the  bustle  of  life  ye  have  rendered  me  free  ; 
My  earth  ye  have  hallowed ;  henceforth  I  shall  be 
A  garden  of  graves,  where  your  loved  ones  shall  rest !' " 

On  the  left  of  the  avenue,  and  just  beyond  the  entrance,  stands  the 
Keeper's  Lodge.  It  is  a  cottage  in  the  rustic,  pointed  style,  with  four  gables. 
The  sides  are  of  plank  uprights,  battened  with  cedar  poles,  rough  from  the 
forest.  Its  whole  exterior  is  unsmoothed  and  unpainted,  yet  it  is  symmet- 
rical and  picturesque.  Embowered  in  the  grove,  and  already  looking  old 
enough  to  be  coeval  with  the  trees  that  shade  it,  its  entire  aspect  is  in 
harmony  with  the  place  and  its  associations.  In  such  a  home,  we  sometimes 
imagine,  might  have  been  found,  long  ago,  near  the  church-yard  of  some 
quiet  hamlet  in  our  fatherland,  one  of  those  immortal  sextons,  whose 
occupation  and  quaint  humor  genius  has  loved  to  depict. 

Hard  by,  a  tower  of  the  same  primitive  order,  supports  a  bell,  which 
is  rung  whenever  a  funeral  train  enters  the  grounds.  This  is  a  custom 
hallowed  by  its  own  appropriateness,  as  well  as  by  long  and  general 
observance.  In  cities,  the  tolling  of  bells  for  the  dead  has,  as  a  matter  of 
necessity,  been  long  discontinued.  In  country  villages,  however,  the  usage 
still  prevails.  The  deep  tones  of  the  bell  in  Green-Wood,  penetrating  its 
dells,  and  echoing  from  its  hills,  are  the  only  sounds  that  reach  the  mourner's 
ear,  as  he  follows  some  dear  object  to  the  tomb.  Often,  we  know,  at  such 
times,  this  unexpected  but  still  familiar  sound  has  touched  the  springs  of 
memory  and  feeling,  carrying  back  the  mind  to  the  homely  scenes  but 
bright  hours  of  Childhood — to  the  far-off,  native  vale — to  that  knell  from 
the  village  steeple,  which  once  called  the  reminiscent  to  weep  over  some 
sweet  flower,  cut  down  in  its  morning  beauty — and  to  that  humble  grave- 
yard, where,  bedewed  with  tears  of  veneration  and  love,  a  father  and 
mother  now  sleep,  side  by  side. 

A  mournful  office  is  thine,  old  bell, 
To  ring  forth  naught  but  the  last  sad  knell 
Of  the  coffined  worm,  as  he  passeth  by — 
And  thou  seemest  to  say,  Ye  all  must  die ! 


THE  KEEPER'S  LODGE. 


No  joyful  peal  dost  thou  ever  ring; 

But  ever  and  aye,  as  hither  they  bring 

The  dead  to  sleep  'neath  the  "  Green-Wood"  tree, 

Thy  voice  is  heard,  pealing  mournfully. 

!No  glad  occasion  dost  thou  proclaim — 
Thy  mournful  tone  is  ever  the  same ; 
The  slow,  measured  peal  that  tells  of  woe 
Such  as  those  who  feel  it  may  only  know. 

Had  thy  tongue  the  power  of  speech,  old  bell, 
Methinks  strange  stories  'twould  often  tell ; 
How  some  are  brought  hither  with  tear  and  moan, 
"While  others  pass  by,  unmourned,  alone ; 

How  strangers  are  hither  brought  to  sleep, 
Whose  home,  perchance,  was  beyond  the  deep. 
Who,  seeking  our  shore,  came  but  to  die, 
And  here  in  this  hallowed  spot  to  lie; 

How  a  wife  hath  followed  a  husband's  bier — 
How  a  husband  hath  followed  a  wife  most  dear — 
How  brother  and  sister  have  come,  in  turn, 
To  shed  a  tear  o'er  a  parent's  urn ; 

How  the  victim  of  sorrow's  ceaseless  smart 
Hath  given  up  life  with  a  willing  heart, 
And  thought  of  this  spot  with  a  smiling  face, 
Glad  at  last  to  find  him  a  resting-place. 

I  wonder  if  thou  dost  ring,  old  bell, 
For  the  rich  man  a  louder,  longer  knell, 
Than  thou  dost  for  the  poor  who  enter  here 
On  the  humble  and  unpretending  bier! 

And  dost  thou  ring  forth  a  peal  less  sad 
For  the  pure  and  good,  than  for  the  bad  ? 
Or  dost  thou  toll  the  same  knell  for  all — 
The  rich  and  the  poor,  the  great  and  small? 


128 


APPENDIX. 


Oh,  a  mournful  office  is  thine,  old  bell, 
To  ring  forth  naught  but  the  last  sad  knell 
Of  the  coffined  worm,  as  he  passeth  by, — 
And  thou  seemest  to  say,  Prepare  to  die ! 

Arthur  Morrell. 


III. — THE  CLINTON  MONUMENT. 

The  author  of  this  work,  Mr.  Hexey  Kirke  Brown,  is  a  native  of 
Massachusetts,  who  had  become  skilful  as  a  painter  before  he  took  up  the 
modelling  stick  and  chisel.  After  a  year  or  two  of  success  in  Albany,  he 
went  to  Rome  and  worked  four  years.  On  his  return,  he  settled  in  Brook- 
lyn, and  soon  after  executed  the  statue  of  Clinton.  This  prepared  the  way 
for  a  greater  work — the  equestrian  statue  of  Washington,  in  Union  Place, 
New  York.  It  was  undertaken  in  conjunction  with  his  friend  Horatio 
Gkeexough.  The  death,  almost  immediately  aftenvards,  of  that  accom- 
plished artist,  threw  the  whole  on  his  partner.  This  statue  speaks  for 
itself.  "When  the  Rebellion  began,  Mr.  Brown  was  professionally  employed 
in  South  Carolina.  During  the  existence  of  the  "Art  Commission"  at 
Washington,  he  was  at  the  head  of  that  Board. 

The  Clinton  Statue,  during  its  short  sojourn  in  front  of  the  New  York 
City  Hall  (where  it  was  seen  at  great  disadvantage  and  should  never  have 
gone),  was  subjected  to  various  criticism.  Seen  in  its  present  admirable 
position,  at  the  height  and  distance  necessary  to  give  due  proportion  and 
efiect  to  a  colossal  form,  it  is  a  fit  and  noble  memorial  of  the  illustrious 
original. 

The  statue  of  Clinton  presents  him  in  the  attitude  of  speaking.  His 
garb  is  the  full  dress  of  an  American  gentleman,  sixty  years  ago.  The  long 
cloak  of  that  period  hangs  loosely  from  the  shoulders,  and,  like  the  Roman 
toga,  imparts  to  the  figure  an  aspect  of  greater  fulness  and  dignity.  As  a 
portrait,  the  face  has  been  approved  by  many  who  were  once  familiar  with 
the  man.  On  the  two  longer  sides  of  the  bronze  pedestal,  are  representa- 
tions in  relief,  expressive  of  the  great  work  to  which  Clinton  owed  so  much 
of  his  fame.  In  one  you  see  it  in  progress — the  survey,  the  excavation, 
the  teams,  etc.    Upon  the  other  side  the  canal  in  full  operation.  The 


VISTA  HILL. 


129 


bustling  scene  around  the  boat  and  the  dock  is  happily  contrasted  with 
the  idle  group  of  Indians  who  seem  to  be  looking  in  sadness  on  the  enter- 
prise before  which  they  and  their  bark  canoes  are  fast  fading  away. 

The  cost  of  this  monument  was  $15,000.  One-fifth  of  the  amount  was 
contributed  by  Green-Wood  Cemetery. 

To  Mr.  Brown  we  owe  the  statue  on  the  monument  of  Dr.  Samuel  L. 
Mitchell — a  marble  personification  of  the  Historic  Muse.  This  pleasing 
work  may  be  seen  near  Forest  Dell,  in  Section  78. 

On  Meadow  Hill  (Section  104),  in  ground  belonging  to  Mrs.  William  S. 
Packer,  there  is  a  bronze  statue  of  Hope,  which  was  executed  by  Mr. 
Brown.  To  the  same  tasteful  and  skilful  hand,  we  owe  the  exquisitely 
conceived  and  sculptured  tablet  of  white  marble,  which  is  inserted  in  the 
modest  monument  of  A.  M.  Cozzens,  on  Yine  Hill  (Section  97). 


IV. — YISTA  HILL. 

In  pages  66  to  72  of  "Green-Wood  Illustrated"  may  be  found  copious 
extracts  from  Dr.  Farley's  excellent  Address,  together  with  Dr.  Pierpont's 
beautiful  Hymn.  We  repeat  here  the  introduction  to  that  article,  for  its 
general  as  well  as  particular  application. 

"Yet  not  to  thine  eternal  resting-place 
Shalt  thou  retire  alone ;  nor  couklst  thou  wish 
Couch  more  magnificent. 

"  Vista  Hill  is  a  gentle  elevation,  situated  on  the  Tour,  in  the  im- 
mediate vicinity  of  Cedar  Grove.  A  portion  of  this  hill  is  inclosed  by  an 
iron  paling,  with  a  handsome  gateway  opening  to  the  east.  The  spacious 
inclosure  is  slightly  elliptical.  This  beautiful  spot  has  been  secured  and 
set  apart  for  burial  purposes  by  the  Church  of  the  Saviour.  We  have 
already  had  occasion  to  allude  to  this  wise  and  Christian  appropriation. 
Is  it  not  wise  to  bind  more  closely  together,  by  the  solemn  and  tender 
associations  of  the  grave,  those  who  meet  and  worship  in  the  same  sanc- 
tuary? And  is  not  that  a  heaven-born  charity,  which  not  only  remem- 
bers the  poor  while  living,  but,  with  delicate  regard  to  the  tenderest  feel- 
ings of  our  nature,  provides  for  them  such  sepulture  ?  Praise  to  those 
who  designed  and  who  have  accomplished  the  work  ! 


130 


APPENDIX. 


"  One  or  two  other  congregations  own  lots  in  Green- Wood,  but  no 
other  one  has  appropriated  and  inclosed  a  tract  for  common  occupancy. 
The  Cemetery  still  contains  spots  admirably  adapted  to  such  a  use.  Will 
not  some,  will  not  many  of  the  two  hundred  churches,  which  are  destined 
to  make  Green-Wood  their  place  of  burial,  take  care  to  secure  these  choice 
positions,  before  they  shall  be  pre-occupied  by  individual  proprietors? 
That  every  church  should  have  its  own  burying-ground,  is  consonant  as 
well  to  natural  fitness  and  religious  propriety,  as  to  long  experience.  The 
dead  may  indeed  no  longer  rest  under  or  around  the  sacred  walls  which 
were  so  dear  to  them  in  life.  Yet  the  place  of  sepulture  may  be  hallowed 
by  solemn  assembly  and  religious  rite.  As  pastor  and  people — the  young 
and  the  old — the  rich  and  the  poor,  cluster  together  there,  how  precious, 
how  holy  will  the  place  become  ?  What  more  can  it  need  to  consecrate 
and  endear  it,  than  its  own  simple  charms,  associated  as  they  will  then  be 
with  so  many  treasures  of  the  heart — so  many  tender  memories  and  con- 
solatory hopes?" 


Y.— GREEN-WOOD  PUBLICATIONS. 

The  first  printed  document-relating  to  Green- Wood  was  the  pamphlet 
of  Major  Douglass,  referred  to  in  the  History.  It  bears  the  following 
title  :  "  Exposition  of  the  Plan  and  Objects  of  the  Green- Wood  Cemetery, 
an  Incorporated  Trust  chartered  by  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  New 
York."  It  has  eighteen  pages  of  text,  and  an  appendix,  containing  the 
memorials  which  had  been  presented  to  the  State  and  the  City  authorities, 
and  also  the  action  of  those  bodies.  It  came  out  in  1839.  The  terms  of 
subscription  at  the  first  opening  of  the  books,  with  an  abstract  of  the  con- 
ditions and  limitations,  came  out  the  same  year. 

In  the  summer  of  1842,  Mr.  Perry,  as  Vice-President,  and  by  order  of 
the  Trustees,  gave,  in  a  small  pamphlet  of  eleven  pages,  a  brief  exposition 
of  the  character,  object,  rules,  and  officers  of  the  Institution. 

In  1843,  there  came,  from  the  same  source,  a  similar,  but  somewhat 
larger  pamphlet.  It  showed  that  the  Institution  was  beginning  to  look 
up.  An  Indian  damsel  and  a  crazy  poet  had  been  buried  in  Green- Wood, 
and  the  event  was  duly  celebrated  in  prose  and  verse. 


GREEN-WOOD  PUBLICATIONS. 


131 


The  pamphlet  which  came  out  in  1844  was  very  brief — a  mere  extract 
from  the  Comptroller's  Report  for  that  year. 

In  the  following  year  the  annual  Green- Wood  publication  appeared  in 
more  imposing  form.  It  had  twenty-six  pages  of  text,  fourteen  pages  of 
appendix,  and  a  catalogue  of  proprietors  which  covered  nineteen  pages. 

In  1847,  this  pamphlet  of  rules  and  regulations  was  nearly  doubled  in 
size  by  the  "Descriptive  Notices  of  Green-Wood  Illustrated,"  which,  with 
permission  of  author  and  publisher,  were  given  in  full.  The  historical 
narrative  for  184G  makes  mention  of  this  work,  begun  that  year,  under 
an  arrangement  with  Mr.  Robert  Martin,*  brought  out  in  numbers  at  irreg- 
ular intervals,  and  completed  in  1847.  As  this  costly  and  elegant  volume 
has  long  been  out  of  the  market,  I  preserve  here  a  tabular  statement  of  its 
contents : 

Green- Wood  in  1846.  The  Entrance.  The  Keeper's  Lodge.  Poet's 
Mound.  Ocean  Hill.  Indian  Mound.  Bay  Grove  Hill.  Oaken  Bluff. 
Fern  Hill.  Lawn-girt  Hill.  The  Tour,  as  seen  from  Ocean  Hill.  Sylvan 
Cliff.  Vista  Hill.  Ocean  Hill.  Battle  Hill.  The  Pilot's  Monument. 
German  Lots  and  Odd  Fellows'  Ground.  Monuments. 

Only  three  of  the  articles  were  ud accompanied  by  plates.  The  engra- 
vings are  faithful  as  well  as  beautiful  pictures,  executed  in  the  highest  style 
of  art.  The  article  on  Bay  Grove  Hill  is  mainly  a  biographical  sketch  of 
I)e  Witt  Clinton,  whose  remains,  at  that  time,  were  resting  in  a  tomb 
upon  this  hill.  Battle  Hill  is  an  account  of  the  battle  of  Brooklyn,  so  far 
as  the  conflict  occurred  in  and  around  Gowanus ;  a  description,  prepared 
with  care,  after  much  inquiry  and  personal  examination  of  the  ground — 
not  then  transformed  by  excavation  and  grading  into  city  streets  and  lots. 
The  article  last  enumerated,  though  not  the  last  in  the  volume,  is  an  essay 
on  monumental  architecture  and  sculpture,  and  on  the  material  best  fitted 
for  their  use. 

The  record  for  1849  makes  mention  of  the  Directory  for  visitors  in 

*  Mr.  Martin  is  a  native  of  England,  and  was  formerly  connected  with  George  Virtue,  of 
London,  in  the  publication  of  illustrated  works.  He  became  interested  in  Green-Wood  as  one 
of  the  original  owners— as  a  resident  in  its  neighborhood— and  especially  as  having  early  in- 
trusted to  its  keeping  an  only  and  beloved  child.  Several  other  works  of  the  illustrated  kind, 
and  of  a  very  costly  character,  were  published  by  him  in  numbers,  and  distributed  by  agents. 
Though  he  did  not  belong  properly  to  the  literary  guild,  and  could  make  no  pretensions  to 
rank  in  the  publishing  fraternity  with  John  Murray  or  George  Putnam,  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  the  artists,  the  paper-dealers,  and  the  printers  missed  him,  when  he  retired  from  the  book 
business. 


132 


APPENDIX. 


Green-Wood,  and  its  biographical  notices,  published  that  year.  Nothing 
more  needs  be  said  of  it  here.  About  five  thousand  copies  of  this  book 
were  printed  and  disposed  of. 

In  1853  the  Company  published  a  small  pamphlet  of  forty-four  pages, 
with  the  following  title  :  "  Hints  Conoeening  Geeen-Wood,  its  Monu- 
ments and  Impeovements,  bt  K.  Cleaveland."  I  know  not  how  I  can 
better  state  the  motive  and  purpose  of  this  little  tract,  than  by  repeating 
here  its  own  explanation. 

"  But  it  should  be  remembered,  that  the  good  looks  and  the  high  repu- 
tation of  Green- Wood  depend  not  for  continuance  upon  its  officers  alone. 
The  owners  of  lots — those  who  plant,  and  those  who  build  upon  this 
ground — by  the  exercise  of  a  good,  or  of  a  mistaken  taste — by  the  display 
of  intelligence,  or  of  ignorance — may  greatly  modify  the  character  of  the 
place.  A  cursory  inspection  of  the  inclosures  and  monuments  in  Green- 
Wood  will  furnish  numerous  illustrations  of  this  remark,  in  both  kinds. 
The  directors  have,  indeed,  wisely  reserved  to  themselves  a  discretionary 
power  over  the  improvements  or  changes  which  may  be  made  in  the  lots 
sold.  Any  serious  annoyance  to  others — any  great  enormity  in  matters 
of  taste  and  propriety  will,  doubtless,  be  prevented  or  removed  under  this 
authority.  Beyond  this,  it  is  an  affair  of  difficulty  and  delicacy  to  interfere. 
To  advise,  or  to  dissuade,  is  about  all  that  can  be  done  in  ordinary  cases. 
The  subject  is  important,  and  must  commend  itself  to  all  who  feel  an  in- 
terest in  Green-Wood. 

"  While  there  are  some  whose  own  good  sense  and  taste  are  a  suffi- 
cient guide  in  matters  of  this  sort,  it  is  certain  that  far  the  greater  number 
rely,  mainly,  on  opinions  (not  always  judicious)  derived  from  others. 
Many  are  content  with  blindly  copying  some  fanciful  or  quaint  conceit, 
which  has  caught  their  eye — tolerable,  perhaps,  while  it  stood  alone,  but 
odious  when  oft  repeated.  Others  visit  the  stone  cutter's  yard,  look  at  his 
ready-made  specimens,  and  listen  to  advice  which  not  even  charity  herself 
can  suppose  to  be  always  disinterested.  Or  anxious,  perhaps,  to  have 
something  very  expressive  and  original,  they  concoct,  with  his  aid,  some 
outre  design,  and  then  perpetrate  in  marble  the  long-enduring  folly. 

"It  is  not  very  strange  that  there  are  numerous  violations  of  good 
taste  in  the  adornments  of  our  burial  grounds.  In  the  great  majority  of 
cases,  attention  is  first  turned  to  this  subject  when  a  lot  is  purchased,  or 
when  the  death  of  some  friend  calls  for  a  memorial.  Upon  a  point  which 
has  received  no  previous  consideration,  the  idea  first  presented,  however 


GREEN-WOOD  PUBLICATIONS. 


133 


crude,  will  probably  be  accepted.  It  is  with  the  hope  of  preventing,  at 
least  in  some  instances,  action  so  inconsiderate,  that  the  following  sug- 
gestions are  offered.  They  claim  no  weight  but  such  as  they  may  derive 
from  appeals  to  a  simple  taste,  and  to  common  sense." 

The  following  list  of  headings  will  show  at  least  what  topics  are  treated 
in  this  small  pamphlet:  "  In  closures ;"  "Trees,  Shrubbery,  Flowers;" 
"Monuments  and  Memorials  ;"  "  Tombs  ;"  "  Symbolic  Devices  ;"  "Epi- 
taphs." 

Many  copies  of  the  "  Hints"  have,  during  the  last  ten  years,  been  put 
into  the  hands  of  purchasers  and  owners  of  Green-Wood  lots.  We  try  to 
believe  that  the  little  seeds  have  not  all  fallen  among  thorns,  or  upon 
stony  ground. 

In  1853  the  Descriptive  Notices  were  left  out  of  the  annual  pamphlet, 
which,  with  its  fast-increasing  list  of  lot-owners,  was  getting  to  be  very 
bulky.    After  1854  this  pamphlet  was  issued  biennially. 

In  18G3  the  Rules,  Regulations,  and  Suggestions  came  out  in  a  separate 
pamphlet  of  fifty-two  pages.  The  Catalogue  of  Proprietors  was  printed 
by  itself,  and  occupies  one  hundred  and  forty-five  closely  printed  pages. 

The  first  published  report  of  a  financial  character  was  printed  in  1861. 
It  is  a  pamphlet  of  ninety-four  pages.  Sixty-four  of  these  pages  are  occu- 
pied by  statistics,  and  contain  every  important  item  of  receipt  and  ex- 
penditure from  the  actual  commencement  of  the  Institution  in  1839  to  the 
close  of  18G0.  The  necessity  and  the  character  of  the  various  purchases, 
expenditures,  and  improvements,  are  shown  in  several  pages  of  explanatory 
remarks,  to  all  which  are  appended  the  legislative  acts  which  relate  to  the 
Cemetery.  Similar  reports  for  1801,  1862,  and  1863  have  since  appeared. 
This  series  will  be  continued  annually.  Every  fact  of  importance  in  the 
future  history  and  condition  of  the  Institution,  will  thus  be  put  on  record, 
and  made  known  to  the  public. 

19 


134 


APPENDIX. 


VI. — THE  FOREIGN  BIRDS. 

The  English  birds  were  obtained  through  the  agency  of  Mr.  Thomas  S. 
Woodcock,  a  gentleman  of  much  experience  in  such  matters.  The  bill 
dated  "Manchester,  November  13th,  1852,"  shows  that  there  were  one 
hundred  and  sixty-eight,  namely :  forty-eight  skylarks,  twenty-four  wood- 
larks,  forty-eight  goldfinches,  twenty-four  robins,  twelve  thrashes,  and 
twelve  blackbirds.  Of  these,  the  woodlarks  were  the  most  costly ;  the 
thrushes  and  blackbirds  coming  next,  and  the  average  price  being  a 
fraction  over  eightpence  a  bird.  The  entire  cost,  including  birds,  cages, 
keep,  and  freight,  was  £22  3s.  4<Z. 


VII.— THE  CHAGOT  GROUND  AND  MOUNT  WASHINGTON. 

This  annoyance  (the  Chagot  Lots),  after  having  continued  for  more 
than  a  quarter  of  a  century,  has  at  last  ceased  to  exist  as  a  thorn  in  the 
side  of  Green-Wood.  Arrangements  only  just  now  perfected  (June,  1864) 
give  to  the  Cemetery  absolute  possession  and  unquestioned  occupancy  of 
these  lots.  A  glance  at  the  map  will  show  that  the  intrusion  of  this  small 
strip,  with  its  right  of  way,  made  a  large  and  valuable  tract  all  but  useless 
to  the  Cemetery;  that  Sections  123,  112,  113,  and  114  were  thus  dis- 
severed, while  Sections  E,  F,  G,  H,  and  J,  were  thrown  into  such  disad- 
vantage of  position  as  disqualified  them  for  cemetery  purposes.  The 
ground  thus  shut  out,  and  used,  these  many  years,  only  as  pasturage,  is 
not  surpassed  in  beauty  and  eligibility  by  any  portion  of  the  Cemetery. 
It  contains  the  highest  point  in  all  Green-Wood,  and  has  a  lakelet,  not 
given  in  the  map,  which,  in  time,  may  vie  with  Valley  or  with  Crescent 
Water. 

As  we  reflect  on  the  circumstances  of  this  long  vexation,  the  thought 
is  humiliating  as  well  as  painful,  that  avarice  and  ignorance  and  obstinacy 
combined,  possess  such  capacity  to  thwart  and  to  annoy.  For  a  moment  we 
may  even  wish  that  there  were,  somewhere,  a  sharp  and  summary  power 


TREES  A^D  SHRTJBBEKY. 


135 


for  the  abatement  of  nuisances  so  intolerable.  But  no — 'tis  better  as  it  is ; 
far  better  that  the  rights  of  property  as  guaranteed  by  law  should  some- 
times be  abused  by  its  possessors,  than  that  they  should  ever  be  violated 
by  others  in  the  slightest  respect  or  degree. 

Nor  is  the  patience  with  which  this  ill-natured  provocation  has  been 
borne  wholly  without  reward.  But  for  Monsieur  Chagot,  Mount  Wash- 
ington and  its  declivities  would,  probably,  long  since  have  been  sold  in 
Cemetery  lots,  at  the  low  rates  which  then  prevailed.  The  benevolent 
Frenchman  just  kept  the  ground  out  of  the  market  until,  under  a  different 
tariff  of  prices,  it  will  sell  for  something  nearer  its  real  value. 

There  is  another  consideration  which  lends  its  aid  in  reconciling  us  to 
this  miserable  Chagot  affair.  On  the  commanding  eminence  so  strangely 
preserved,  and  soon  to  be  graded  and  made  accessible,  we  hope,  ere  long, 
to  see  an  edifice  rising  which  shall  be  the  crowning  glory  of  Green- Wood. 
The  idea  of  a  structure  within  these  grounds,  which  may  become  a  public 
mausoleum  for  departed  worth,  and  in  wThich  the  architect,  the  sculptor, 
and  the' painter  can  place  their  choicest  material  and  most  exquisite  pro- 
ductions, without  fear  of  injury  from  rudeness,  or  accident,  or  the  elements, 
has  been  presented  in  another  part  of  the  volume.  At  no  other  point  in 
the  Cemetery  would  the  walls  and  towers  of  such  an  edifice  be  seen  with 
equal  advantage.  Nowhere  else  would  their  summits  command  a  view  so 
varied  and  magnificent. 


VIII.— TREES  AND  SHRUBBERY. 

One  of  the  first  questions  that  arose  in  regard  to  the  improvement  of 
Green- Wood,  had  reference  to  its  trees  and  shrubbery.  These,  which 
covered  a  large  portion  of  the  ground,  had  constituted  one  of  its  strongest 
recommendations  in  the  view  of  those  who  selected  it  for  the  Cemetery. 
The  very  name  they  gave  to  it  might  be  regarded  as  an  indication  of  the 
importance  which  they  attached  to  this  remarkable  feature  of  the  place, 
and  of  their  purpose  to  keep  that  feature  unimpaired. 

The  original  trees  of  Green- Wood  were  Oaks,  Chestnuts,  Walnuts, 
Gum-trees,  Tulip-trees,  and  Dog-woods.  Interspersed  with  these  might 
be  seen  many  specimens  of  the  Beech,  the  Maple,  the  Plane  tree,  the  Cedar, 


136 


APPENDIX. 


and  the  Pine.  The  Butternut,  the  Ironwood,  the  Pepperidge,  and  the 
Persimmon  were  not  uncommon  there.  Many  of  these  trees  were  old  and 
large,  and  handsome,  and  all  of  them  in  their  natural,  but  not  ungraceful 
grouping,  presented  fine  masses  of  variegated  foliage.  Still  the  general 
aspect  of  the  wooded  portions  was  that  of  the  thicket  rather  than  of  the 
grove.  This  dense  growth  not  only  made  the  ground  almost  useless  for  its 
specific  purpose,  but  effectually  precluded  that  access  of  light  and  air,  with- 
out which  grass  cannot  grow.  Gradually,  the  underbrush  was  removed 
and  the  trees  were  thinned  out,  greatly  to  the  advantage  of  all  concerned, 
as  the  issue  conclusively  showed.  0 

And  yet  it  required  some  faith  and  some  courage  to  persevere  in  a  course 
which  many,  at  the  time,  were  disposed  to  condemn.  Some,  who  pro- 
fessed a  warm  interest  in  the  enterprise,  and  almost  claimed  to  be  regarded 
as  arbiters  of  taste,  were  sharp  in  their  censure  of  the  process.  The  van- 
dal operation  of  pruning  would  mar,  they  said,  the  finest  charm  of  Green- 
Wood,  by  taking  away  all  its  wildness. 

With  the  successful  result  now  before  us,  it  is  quite  unnecessary  to 
argue  the  question  in  point  of  policy  or  of  taste.  Indeed,  the  real  diffi- 
culty has  been  not  in  retaining  or  procuring  a  sufficiency  of  foliage,  but  in 
avoiding  its  excess.  Notwithstanding  the  removal  of  many  large  trees  and 
of  innumerable  smaller  ones,  so  rapid  is  the  growth  of  those  which  were 
left,  and  of  those  which  have  been  planted,  that  Green-Wood  is  much 
more  shaded  to-day  than  it  was  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago. 

Among  the  larger  trees,  the  Chestnut  has  been  found  the  most  objec- 
tionable. The  dust  that  falls  from  it  when  in  flower,  stains  and  disfigures 
every  monument  which  it  touches.  Not  without  regret  has  it  been  found 
necessary  to  remove  many  noble  specimens  of  this  handsome  tree.  The 
Weeping  Willow  has  been  planted  in  many  a  plot  of  Green-Wood,  and  is 
undoubtedly  regarded  as  especially  emblematical  of  grief.  It  grows  fast, 
looks  well  for  a  short  time,  and  then  begins  to  decay  near  the  root.  Hun- 
dreds of  these  trees  have  been  removed,  and  all  that  remain  must  come  to 
the  same  conclusion. 

The  Norway  Spruce  has  been  a  special  favorite  with  the  tree-planters 
in  this  Cemetery.  Its  spiry  form  and  deep  perennial  verdure  associate  it 
in  our  thoughts  with  the  funereal  Cypress,  and  seem  to  commend  it  to  the 
same  use.  While  this  tree  is  small,  it  is  both  handsome  and  appropriate. 
But  it  shoots  up  and  spreads  out  so  rapidly  and  so  far,  as  soon  to  become 
a  nuisance.    In  Green-Wood  not  a  few  of  them  have  fallen,  because  they 


TREES  AXD  SHRUBBERY. 


13T 


persisted  in  running  into  the  road,  or  across  the  foot-paths.  Others  made 
themselves  offensive  by  obstructing  the  light  and  the  air,  and  shutting  out 
the  view  of  every  thing  beyond  them,  and  so  they  had  to  go.  Many,  very 
many,  will  probably  be  extirpated  by  the  owners  of  the  smaller  lots,  as  it 
shall  become  more  and  more  evident  that  these  fast-growing  trees  are  out 
of  place  in  those  little  inclosures. 

Without  going  farther  into  particulars  in  this  respect,  it  is  sufficient  to 
say  that  the  whole  question  of  trees  in  cemeteries  is  a  question  that  re- 
quires careful  consideration.  The  real  danger  lies,  evidently,  on  the  side 
of  excess.  Almost  everywhere  the  same  tendency  is  seen.  Formerly, 
the  forest  stood  in  the  way.  The  great  object  was  to  clear  up  the  country, 
and  hence  our  fathers  swept  off  the  trees  with  unsparing  hand.  Now  we 
go  to  the  other  extreme.  Many  of  our  villages,  streets,  and  homes  have 
become,  or  are  becoming,  so  densely  embowered  as  to  leave  small  chance 
for  the  sun  or  the  air  to  enter.  Clearly  this  is  wrong,  unless  it  can  be 
shown  that  a  stagnant  atmosphere — that  shade,  and  dampness,  and  moodi- 
ness, and  decay — with  whole  armies  of  bugs  and  caterpillars — are  promo- 
tive of  cheerfulness  and  conducive  to  health. 

This  inconsiderate  and  reckless  planting  of  trees  and  bushes  in  and 
around  the  spots  where  our  dead  repose,  is  one  of  the  absurdities  of  fash- 
ion. It  is  but  too  often  the  mere  thoughtless  copying  of  an  example  set 
by  others.  In  Green-Wood  the  practice  has  already  caused  much  incon- 
venience. Unless  timely  checked  by  abstinence  and  care  on  the  part  of 
the  proprietors,  it  will  ere  long  become  intolerable. 

The  Cemetery  grounds  which  look  best  at  all  seasons,  and  give  the 
highest  satisfaction  to  the  eye,  are  those  which  most  nearly  resemble  a 
well-kept  lawn.  As  a  general  thing,  shrubbery  and  trees,  in  these  little 
plots,  are  fatal  to  neatness.  If  there  be  any  doubt  on  this  point,  let  the 
open  lots  in  Green-Wood  be  compared  with  those  which  are  much  shaded. 

If  trees  are  to  be  planted,  there  is  a  very  decided  choice.  We  would 
recommend  the  selection  to  be  made  from  trees  which  are  compact  in 
shape,  and  slow  of  growth. 


138 


APPENDIX. 


IX.— FLOWERS. 

Me.  J.  C.  Loudox,  whose  opinions  on  such  subjects  ought  to  have 
weight,  remarks  in  his  work  on  the  "Laving  out,  building,  and  planting 
of  Cemeteries,"  that  many  trees  and  shrubs  impede  the  free  circulation 
of  the  air  and  the  drying  effect  of  the  sun.  He  objects  to  the  planting 
of  masses  in  the  interior  and  of  belts  around  the  border.  Trees  with 
bulky  heads  are  objectionable.  It  is  to  those  which  have  narrow,  conical 
shapes — to  the  evergreen,  needle-leaved  trees  that  he  gives  the  preference. 
Among  those  which  he  enumerates  are  the  common  Cypress,  the  Irish 
Yew,  the  Irish  and  Swedish  Juniper,  and  the  fastigiate  Arbor- Vitse.  In 
these  conclusions  we  agree  with  Loudon,  though  very  far  from  assenting 
to  the  reasons  which  he  assigns  for  them. 

Mr.  Loudon  does  not  approve  of  flowers  in  cemeteries.  Let  him  speak 
for  himself.  kk  The  planting  of  flowers  in  cemeteries  is  very  general,  not 
only  in  the  margin  of  masses  and  belts,  and  in  beds,  as  in  pleasure-grounds, 
but  on  graves.  For  our  own  particular  taste,  we  would  have  no  flowers 
at  all,  nor  any  portion  of  ground  within  a  cemetery  that  had  the  appear- 
ance of  being  dug,  or  otherwise  moved  for  the  purpose  of  cultivation. 
A  state  of  quiet  and  repose  is  an  important  ingredient  in  the  passive 
sublime;  and  moving  the  soil  for  the  purpose  of  culture,  even  on  a  grave, 
is  destructive  of  repose." 

Whatever  may  be  thought  of  his  philosophy  and  the  requirements  of 
"the  passive  sublime,"  I  have  no  doubt  as  to  the  correctness  of  the 
general  result.  I  refer  especially  to  the  beds  and  borders,  with  gravelled 
walks,  and  filled  with  flowering  plants,  laid  out  by  the  skill  and  kept  up 
by  the  care  of  the  florist.  The  observation  of  ten  years,  since  the  follow- 
ing passage  was  written  for  the  "  Hints,"  has  only  confirmed  the  view 
which  it  takes. 

"  The  custom  of  rearing  flowering  shrubs  and  plants  is  not  exposed  to 
the  objection  just  raised.  It  is  one,  indeed,  which,  with  most  persons, 
commends  itself  favorably  to  the  sensibilities  and  the  taste.  Even  allow- 
ing that  often  it  is  a  piece  of  affectation  or  of  imitative  display — still,  in 
many  cases,  it  doubtless  helps  to  soothe  the  first  anguish  of  bereavement. 
We  would  not  forbid  the  pious  care.  Let  nature  bloom  above  the  still 
precious  dust,  and  shed  upon  it  her  fragrant  offerings.    But  surely  there 


MODES  OF  INTERMENT. 


139 


should  be  a  limitation  here.  I  like  to  see  the  rose  bending  over  the  hum- 
ble mound,  or  lovingly  twining  about  the  lettered  stone.  A  few  flowers, 
appropriate  in  their  hues  and  associations,  scattered  here  and  there  in  the 
grass,  and  growing,  as  it  were,  spontaneously,  are  very  becoming.  Not 
so  these  artificial  beds,  these  gravelled  walks,  these  trim  parterres,  filled 
but  too  often  with  flaunting  exotics." 


X.— MODES  OF  INTERMENT. 

What  disposition  shall  be  made  of  the  body,  from  which  the  living 
spirit  has  departed?  In  some  way  it  must  be  disposed  of.  Which  way 
is  best  ?  From  the  earliest  age,  and  in  all  lands,  this  question  has  forced 
itself  on  the  attention  of  mankind.  The  old  Egyptian,  believing  in  me- 
tempsychosis, and  anticipating  the  possible  return  of  the  migrating  soul  to 
its  recent  tenement,  filled  the  frame  with  spicy  gums — wrapped  it  in  tarry 
folds — shut  it  up  in  an  air-tight  box  and  placed  it  in  some  arid  cave — to 
keep  company  down  the  ages  with  mummied  birds  and  bulls.  Other 
nations  resorted  to  fire — preserving  from  the  funereal  pyre  only  the  poor 
residuum — the  literal  ashes  of  the  dead.  Many,  even  in  the  earliest  times, 
preferred  the  tomb,  which  was  sometimes  a  regular  structure,  below  or 
above  ground — more  often  an  excavation  in  the  solid  rock.  In  some  cases 
these  cavities  were  formed  for  the  purpose,  as  was  the  case  in  the  hills 
around  Jerusalem.  More  frequently  they  were  either  natural  caverns  or 
excavations  made  originally  for  other  ends.  The  catacombs  of* Rome,  of 
Paris,  and  many  other  cities,  are  well  known  examples  of  the  class  last 
named. 

But  if  we  take  the  world  over,  and  through  all  time,  we  find  the  preva- 
lent mode  to  have  been  that  which  is  at  once  the  easiest  and  the  most 
natural — simple  burial  in  the  open  ground.  Nor  can  we  doubt  that  such 
will  continue  to  be  the  general  usage. 

Still,  as  the  question  between  interment  and  entombment  is  one  that  will 
often  arise,  let  us  give  it  a  moment's  consideration.  We  can  appreciate 
some  of  the  reasons  which  lead  many  among  us  to  prefer  the  tomb.  How 
natural,  in  the  contemplation  of  our  mortality,  is  the  wisli  to  be  laid  with 
our  kindred,  and  not  among  strangers.    With  some,  probably,  the  tomb 


140 


APPEXDIX. 


seems  specially  to  meet  this  wish.  In  the  creation  of  a  taste  still  preva- 
lent, the  opinions  and  usages  of  society,  especially  in  large  cities,  where 
tombs  were  for  a  long  time  almost  a  necessity,  have  had  no  small  influence. 
Causes  less  commendable — mere  fashion  and  aristocratic  pride — have  been 
at  the  hottom  in  cases  not  a  few,  while  many,  doubtless,  have  decided 
for  the  tomb,  under  the  mistaken  belief  that  it  gives  greater  security. 

The  first  consideration,  which  I  would  present  in  favor  of  interment  is 
the  sanitary  argument.  This  disposition  of  the  dead  is  more  favorable  to 
health.  Human  remains,  inclosed  only  in  wood,  and  deposited  at  the 
proper  depth  in  the  ground,  are  soon  resolved  to  their  original  elements. 
In  and  about  London,  where  the  soil  is  dry,  six  or  seven  years  are  suffi- 
cient to  convert  the  muscular  portions  of  the  body  into  a  mass  of  black 
mould.  In  Green- Wood,  the  same  result  is  usually  reached  in  five  years. 
Of  course  every  thing  deleterious,  either  of  gas  or  liquid,  which  is 
evolved  during  the  process  is  at  once  diffused  and  absorbed  in  the  sur- 
rounding earth. 

This  cannot  be  said  of  the  vault,  however  perfect  in  its  structure  and 
arrangements.  The  tomb,  with  sealed  cells  for  every  coffin,  is,  indeed,  an 
immense  improvement  on  the  old  charnel-house  with  its  open  shelves. 
But  we  are  told  that  "in  some  of  the  public  catacombs  of  the  new  Lon- 
don cemeteries,  explosions  have  been  known  to  take  place,"  making  it 
necessary  to  do  the  work  over  again.  Although  this  should  not  happen, 
it  is  next  to  impossible,  by  any  mere  masonry,  to  prevent  the  silent  escape 
of  the  gases,  which  are  always  injurious  to  health,  and  sometimes  fatal 
to  life. 

Again  we  urge,  in  behalf  of  interment,  that  in  no  other  way  can  the 
relics  of  those  who  were  dear  to  us  be  so  effectually  secured  against  dese- 
cration. When  tenderly  and  reverently  we  bury  our  dead,  how  comfort- 
ing to  believe  that  so  long  as  any  portion  of  the  form  once  precious  shall 
endure,  it  will  stay  where  we  have  placed  it,  untouched  and  unseen. 
Thus  disposed  at  a  proper  depth  below  the  surface,  the  lifeless  body  usually 
remains  out  of  sight  and  out  of  reach,  until  the  dust  has  indeed  returned 
to  dust. 

Against  the  evil  referred  to,  it  is  impossible  to  consider  the  vault  as 
equally  safe.  Its  owner  meets  with  reverses,  and  his  costly  tomb  passes 
into  other  hands.  Or  he  dies,  and  it  goes  to  heirs,  "he  knows  not  who." 
How  often,  as  if  in  providential  rebuke  of  that  unchristian  spirit  which 
would  carry  its  pride  and  exclusiveness  even  into  the  grave — have  the 


enclosures  m  cemetp;ries. 


141 


moulderiug  tenants  of  a  vault,  who  once  held  their  heads  high,  been 
rudely  supplanted  by  the  upstarts  on  whom  they  used  to  look  down  with 
contempt !  And  who  has  not  seen,  both  in  town  and  country,  tombs  for 
which  there  was  no  longer  any  one  living  to  care — their  doors  standing 
open,  and  their  interiors  and  contents  accessible  to  all  ? 

On  this  subject,  indeed,  I  can  only  reiterate  here  what  I  have  said 
already  and  elsewhere : 

"We  have  no  partiality  for  the  charnel-house,  whether  below  or  above 
ground.  The  grave  seems  decidedly  preferable.  Let  the  dead  be  interred. 
Let  earth  conceal  them  from  our  sight,  and  kindly,  gradually  resolve  them 
to  herself.    Against  future  desecration,  all  would  secure 

"The  monld 
Once  hallowed  by  the  Almighty's  breath." 

In  what  other  way  can  we  do  this  so  effectually?  The  vault  may,  indeed, 
be  fast,  and  strong,  and  durable.  But  what  will  protect  its  contents, 
when,  in  the  inevitable  course  of  events,  it  shall  pass  into  the  possession 
of  those  who  will  care  nothing  for  the  builder  or  his  kindred  ? 

"  But  the  necessities  and  habits  of  city  burial  have  made  the  tomb  seem 
natural  and  familiar  to  many.  An  aristocratic  feeling  may  possibly  in- 
fluence some,  who  would  fain  be  select  in  their  associations,  even  under 
ground.  In  others,  doubtless,  the  preference  springs  from  a  tenderer  and 
better  motive.    Not  a  few  prefer  the  tomb,  and  will  have  it." 

To  the  persons  last  referred  to,  Green-Wood  holds  out  peculiar  facilities. 
Many  of  its  steep  declivities,  ill-fitted  for  any  other  use,  have  been  ex- 
cavated for  vaults,  and  there  is  considerable  ground  of  similar  character 
yet  unoccupied. 


XI.— IXCLOSURES  IX  CEMETERIES. 

Is  it  desirable  that  the  burial  plots  in  Green-TVood  should  be  inclosed? 
A  practice  all  but  universal  seems  to  have  decided  this  question  in  the 
affirmative.  The  reasons,  however,  are  not  so  apparent.  Do  these  private 
plots  need  any  other  or  any  better  protection  than  that  which  the  Ceme- 
tery provides  for  every  foot  of  ground  within  its  limits  ?  Does  the  ordinary 
20 


142 


APPENDIX. 


rail,  paling,  or  hedge  shut  out  any  who  wish  to  enter?  Very  rarely.  In 
general,  the  gate  stands  unlocked,  or  if  that  be  fast,  the  barrier  can  be 
surmounted  in  some  other  way. 

Is  a  fence  needed  to  show  and  to  preserve  the  boundary  ?  Certainly  not. 
A  small  stone  post  deeply  set  at  each  corner,  or  placed  with  greater  fre- 
quency on  a  curved  outline,  is  all  that  is  necessary  in  this  respect. 

Many,  we  suppose,  regard  a  fence  as  ornamental.  Some  persons  take 
much  pains,  and  go  to  large  expense  in  procuring  designs,  winch  they 
regard  as  peculiarly  elegant,  or  strikingly  original.  To  us,  it  seems  that 
money  thus  spent,  is  literally  thrown  away.  ^Esthetically  considered,  all 
fences  are  mere  intrusions,  and,  to  a  certain  extent,  deformities.  Their 
effect  is  to  dwindle  or  to  obscure  the  spaces  and  the  objects,  which  they 
partially,  at  least,  exclude  from  our  view.  But  they  are  necessary  evils,  and 
must  sometimes  be  employed..  In  such  cases,  we  would  put  the  matter 
thus  :  the  fence  which  is  least  ambitious  will  annoy  us  the  least.  Such 
a  fence  will  be  simple  in  form  ;  it,  will  unite  slemlerness  and  openness 
with  firmness  and  strength,  and  will  combine  perfect  protection  with  the 
freest  admission  of  light  and  air. 

1  need  not  say  that  I  refer  here  to  that  form  which  is  most  common, 
and  which  prevails  almost  universally  in  city  streets  and  upon  cemetery 
lots,  to  wit:  the  iron  pale.  I  leave  wholly  out  the  high  stone  fence,  a  few 
examples  of  which  occur  in  Greenwood,  as  most  of  the  objections  made  to 
iron  fences  apply  with  greater  force  to  them.  There  are  instances  in 
Green- Wood,  though  they  are  rare,  of  simple  and  excellent  iron  paling,  as 
perfect  and  durable  as  can  possibly  be  made.  Such  is  the  fence  round 
Lawn-Girt  Hill — such  the  palisade  inclosure  of  Cairns  and  Johnston,  on 
Bay-Side  Dell,  with  its  simple  lotus  heads  in  bud  and  flower.  It  would  be 
well  for  future  purchasers,  who  think  they  must  have  an  iron  fence  around 
their  graves,  to  look  at  these  examples.  But  we  hope  the  iron  age  in  our 
cemeteries  is  drawing  to  a  close.  Among  the  recent  purchases  and  im- 
provements, the  hedge  of  evergreen  and  the  simple  curb-stone  are  evidently 
growing  in  favor. 

If  it  be  conceded  that  fences  around  the  burial  plots  of  Green-Wood  are 
not  required  for  protection*  or  as  boundaries,  and  if  it  be  allowed  that 

*  Around  monuments  of  very  costly  material,  of  elaborate  finish,  and  delicate  sculpture,  like 
those  of  Canda  and  of  Scribner,  the  protecting  screen  of  a  pale  or  hedge  is  perhaps  desirable. 
Our  countrymen  and  countrywomen  are  not  always  considerate.  Their  curiosity  is  strong.  They 
love  to  see  for  themselves,  and  even  to  handle.  We  hope  and  believe  that  they  are  in  training 
for  better  manners — that  the  day  is  coming,  when  the  beautiful  products  of  art  and  of  nature  can 


ENCLOSURES  IN  CEMETERIES. 


143 


they  add  nothing  to  the  beauty  of  the  spaces  and  the  objects  which  they 
inclose,  that  they  mar,  indeed,  rather  than  mend  the  prospect,  why  should 
the  custom  be  continued  ?  To  dispense  with  them  would  be  a  large 
saving  of  expense,  and,  with  the  majority,  this  is  certainly  desirable.  The 
first  cost  is  not  the  only  outlay  they  involve.  We  are  prone  to  regard  iron 
as  a  durable  material ;  and  such  it  is,  while  we  keep  oxygen  away  from  it. 
If  any  one  would  know  the  state  which  iron  soon  assumes  when  left  to  the 
free  action  of  air  and  water,  he  may  find  numerous  instances  within  the 
purlieus  of  our  incomparable  Green- Wood.  An  iron  fence  so  oxidated  as 
to  present  a  uniform  surface  of  ochry  brown,  is  a  melancholy  specta- 
cle. Nor  is  this  the  worst  of  it.  Corrosion,  in  such  cases,  as  might  be 
expected,  goes  on  most  rapidly  at  the  points  of  junction,  and  when  these 
are  eaten  through,  the  fabric  becomes  a  ruin.  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  not  a 
few  fences  in  Green-Wood  have  actually  reached,  or  are  fast  approaching, 
this  sad  and  disgraceful  conclusion.  This  is  true,  especially  of  the  fences 
which  consist  of  iron  or  stone  posts  connected  by  rails  only.  In  a  good 
many  instances  the  rails  and  the  posts  have  parted  company.  There  are 
some  exceptions.  The  low  rail  around  the  Rowlands,  on  Pine  Hill,  is  an 
excellent  example  of  the  way  in  which  such  a  fence  should  be  made,  and 
deserves  high  praise  for  its  solidity  and  fitness. 

It  is  true  that  consequences  so  undesirable  would  be,  to  a  great  extent, 
avoided,  if  the  directions  and  advice  which  are  given  in  the  Comptroller's 
official  pamphlet  were  duly  regarded.  But  they  will  not  be  regarded. 
The  evil  will  continue  until  that  millennial  era  comes  when  dishonest 
contractors  and  unfaithful  workmen  will  be  reckoned  among  the  things 
which  are  past. 

An  extensive  and  careful  observation  of  the  inclosed  lots  in  Green-Wood, 
witli  reference  both  to  the  condition  and  the  effect  of  their  metallic  fences, 
has  convinced  me  that  the  best  thing  to  be  done  with  many  of  them,  would 
be  to  sweep  them  away.  As  old  iron,  they  are  worth  something ;  as  they 
stand,  they  are  worse  than  useless. 

At  any  rate,  let  all  who  have  iron  fences  there,  or  who  intend  to  have 
them,  distinctly  know  and  remember,  that  repainting,  as  often  as  once  in 
five  years,  is  absolutely  necessary  to  their  good  condition  and  decent 
appearance. 

be  thrown  open  to  our  American  public  with  as  littlo  apprehension  of  curious  and  harmful  med- 
dling, as  is  felt  in  some  other  countries  which  we  are  wont  to  regard  as  less  enlightened  than 
our  own.   Until  then  we  shall  have  to  keep  up  the  bars. 


144 


APPENDIX. 


As  compared  with  the  iron  paling,  or  rail,  I  have  expressed,  inciden- 
tally, a  preference  for  the  hedge.  There  is  a  charm  in  the  quick-set 
fence  which  all  feel.  It  is  a  living  thing — a  thing  of  verdure  and  some- 
times of  bloom.  Its  associations  are  all  rural,  poetical,  and  pleasing. 
But  this  is  true  of  it  only  when  it  is  neatly  kept  and  in  perfect  trim.  The 
hedge,  unpruned  and  shaggy,  is  simply  an  abomination — an  ugly  row  of 
bushes. 

Bat  it  will  be  evident  to  all  that  the  objections  to  fences  of  iron,  or 
of  stone,  around  our  burial  plots,  so  far  as  they  rest  on  general  grounds, 
are  equally  applicable  to  the  quick-set  hedge.  It  is  not  more  needed  as 
protection — not  more  wanted  as  a  boundary.  On  aesthetic  grounds  it  is 
even  more  objectionable  than  the  iron  pale, — interposing,  as  it  does, 
greater  obstruction  to  the  eye.  Around  small  plots,  hedges  act  injuriously 
on  grass  and  flowers,  by  preventing  the  free  circulation  of  air.  As  it  is 
necessary  to  keep  the  earth  open  around  their  roots,  they  are  wholly  unfit 
for  steep  declivities,  where  the  rains  are  sure  to  lay  them  bare.  It  must 
also  be  borne  in  mind  that  it  costs  a  good  deal  more  to  keep  a  hedge  in 
perfect  condition,  than  to  protect  an  iron  fence  with  paint,  for  the  hedge 
must  be  cultivated  and  pruned  every  year. 

Around  the  large  inclosures,  a  low  evergreen  hedge  looks  well.  It 
should  not  exceed  three  feet  in  height,  and  provision  should  be  made  to 
keep  it  in  perpetual  repair.  Thus  far,  in  Green- Wood,  the  arbor-vitse  has 
been  exclusively  employed.  There  are  other  trees  which  would  answer 
the  same  purpose,  with  the  benefit  of  a  little  variety. 

But  on  lots  of  the  ordinary  size,  nothing  that  grows  faster  or  higher 
than  the  box  ought  ever  to  be  placed.  Even  such  a  hedge,  in  time,  unless 
it  is  rigidly  kept  down,  will  become  altogether  too  thick  and  too  tall. 

There  is  one  other  way  of  inclosing  plots,  and  of  denoting  their  outlines. 
The  simple  curb-stone  has  much  to  recommend  it.  It  accomplishes  every 
needed  object;  it  offers  no  impediment  to  the  eye  ;  it  gives  free  access  on 
every  side,  thus  favoring  the  proper  care  of  the  ground  ;  and  last,  but  not 
least,  once  rightly  placed,  is  placed  forever,  and  asks  for  no  shears,  or 
culture,  or  paint. 

A  good  example  of  the  curb-stone,  in  its  general  and  its  particular 
effect,  may  be  seen  in  Evening  Dell,  on  the  south  side  of  Valley  Water.  I 
believe  few  can  look  at  that  bit  of  ground,  and  wish  for  any  fence  to  inter- 
pose between  them  and  the  well-proportioned  monument  within. 

This  simple  and  durable  mode  of  inclosure,  is  becoming,  as  I  am  told. 


INSCRIPTIONS  ON  MONUMENTS. 


145 


common  in  Mount  Auburn,  and  there  are  already  several  good  specimens 
in  Green-Wood. 

For  this  purpose,  granite  is  undoubtedly  the  best  material,  as  "well  from 
the  length  of  its  blocks  as  from  its  strength  and  durability.  Too  great  care 
cannot  be  used  in  giving  to  these  low  walls  a  deep  and  firm  foundation, 
and  in  the  thorough  binding  of  the  stones  together.  The  posts  should  be 
massive,  their  foundations  going  down  as  low  as  the  graves,  with  the  ends 
of  the  curb-stones  let  into  the  posts,  so  that  they  eannot  be  moved  by  the 
heaving  ground. 

How  far,  and  in  what  way,  the  relinquishment  of  fences  and  hedges 
around  the  private  plots  of  a  cemetery  would  affect  the  general  aspect  of 
the  grounds,  is  a  point  not  to  be  lost  sight  of  in  deciding  the  question. 
There  are  those,  who,  after  extensive  observation,  and  careful  reflection, 
have  come  to  the  conclusion,  that  the  result  of  such  a  change  would  be 
injurious,  and  that  cemeteries  need  this  particular  feature  to  give  them  the 
proper  aspect  and  effect.  Though  I  cannot  exactly  see  how  this  should 
be,  I  am  not  prepared  to  controvert  the  opinion.  Experience  alone  can 
furnish  the  means  for  solving  the  problem. 


XII.— INSCRIPTION'S  ON  MONUMENTS. 

The  feeling  which  prompts  to  some  kind  of  inscription  on  the  tomb,  is 
not  less  spontaneous  than  that  which  leads  to  the  erection  of  the  memorial 
itself.  There  is  no  custom  of  greater  antiquity  or  more  extensive  ob- 
servance. Until  within  a  period  comparatively  recent,  a  tombstone  with- 
out some  sort  of  epitaph  was  an  anomaly  of  rare  occurrence.  But,  for 
several  years  past,  there  has  been  a  growing  disuse  of  inscriptions,  and 
particularly  is  this  the  case  in  our  larger  cemeteries.  This  has  resulted, 
in  part,  probably,  from  the  increasing  use  of  vaults — which  are  generally 
designated  merely  by  the  name  of  the  proprietor — and  partly,  no  doubt, 
from  a  growing  fastidiousness.  The  community  notice  and  feel,  more  than 
they  used  to  do,  the  want  of  taste  in  the  style  of  monumental  inscriptions, 
as  well  as  of  judicious  moderation  in  their  praises  of  the  dead. 

But  while  we  sympathize  with  this  feeling,  it  may  be  well  to  ask 
whether  it  be  not  carrying  us  too  far,  when  it  leads  to  the  general  abandon- 


140 


APPENDIX. 


ment  of  inscriptions.  Can  the  abuse  of  a  custom,  good  in  itself,  be 
remedied  only  by  entire  relinquishment  ?  "Who  can  wander  through  one 
of  our  more  recent  burial  grounds,  and  pass  lot  after  lot,  and  obelisk  after 
obelisk,  all  uninscribed,  or  bearing  simply  the  family  name — worked 
perhaps,  into  the  iron  gate — and  not  feel  that  he  misses  something,  which 
at  other  times,  and  in  other  spots,  used  to  quicken  his  sensibilities  and 
touch  his  heart?  In  this  world  of  sense,  and  strife,  and  passion,  is  it 
wise  to  dispense  with  aught  that  is  adapted  to  excite  tender  and  pious 
sentiments  ?  Should  the  present  neglect  of  inscriptions  continue  to  prevail, 
the  most  beautiful  of  the  modern  cemeteries  may  be  found  in  moral  interest 
and  effect  far  inferior  to  the  old  church-yard  and  rural  burying-ground — 
however  abounding  in  quaint  devices  and  epitaphs  offensive  to  modern 
refinement. 

"  Their  name,  their  years,  spelt  by  the  unlettered  Mase, 
The  place  of  fame  and  elegy  supply, 
And  many  a  holy  test  around  she  strews 
That  teach  the  rustic  moralist  to  die." 

The  beautiful  grounds  of  Green-TVood  have  already  become  the  scene 
of  much  resort.  They  will  be  visited  by  increasing  numbers,  as  they 
become  more  known,  and  especially  as  the  circle  widens  which  connects 
by  ties  of  mournful  interest  its  silent  occupants  with  the  living  multi- 
tudes in  the  adjacent  cities.  To  such  they  should  present  all  that  becomes 
a  Christian  cemetery,  situated  in  a  wealthy  neighborhood,  and  com- 
menced in  an  age  of  refinement  and  of  art.  In  the  variety  and  beauty  of 
these  grounds — so  open  and  sunny  in  some  parts — so  shaded  and  secluded 
in  others — so  near  to  a  vast  city,  yet  so  retired  and  still — Nature  has  left 
us  nothing  to  desire.  Art,  indeed,  has  but  just  commenced  its  great  work 
of  improvement  here.  Is  it  too  much  to  say  that  the  work  has  been  well 
begun?  Several  of  the  monuments  and  tombs  already  constructed  are 
entirely  original  in  design,  and  not  less  appropriate  and  beautiful  than  they 
are  new.  From  the  happy  and  fertile  invention  which  produced  these,  as 
well  as  from  other  kindred  sources,  it  is  hoped  that  we  shall  obtain  many 
more  of  the  same  description. 

While  not  a  few  will  doubtless  prefer  the  old  and  oft-used  forms  of  the 
obelisk,  pillar,  slab,  or  sarcophagus,  it  is  certainly  desirable  to  have  in 
monumental  structures  greater  variety  than  is  to  be  found  in  most  of  our 
cemeteries  ;  and  this  want,  in  some  places,  is  beginning  to  be  felt.  Monu- 


INSCRIPTIONS  ON  MONUMENTS. 


147 


ments,  like  most  of  those  now  in  Green-Wood,  constructed  of  a  durable 
material,  with  a  solidity  which  will  long  defy  the  action  of  the  elements, 
and  in  forms  that  attract  and  gratify  the  eye,  do,  of  themselves,  convey  in 
part,  and  well  convey  the  story  of  love  and  grief.  But  who  does  not  con- 
fess a  sense  of  disappointment,  if,  on  drawing  near,  he  find  no  brief 
epitaph,  no  sententious  thought,  no  scriptural  allusion  or  quotation,  ex- 
pressive of  bereaved  affection  and  of  Christian  hope  ? 

There  are  no  more  felicitous  or  touching  memorials  than  those  beautiful 
symbolic  devices,  in  which  affection,  aided  by  native  art,  has  sometimes  paid 
to  the  dead  its  last  fond  tribute.  But  for  delicate  sculpture,  statuary  marble 
is  the  only  material,  and  this  will  not  bear  exposure.  We  have  here  no 
cathedrals  or  disused  cloisters  to  receive  and  preserve  the  exquisite  produc- 
tions of  the  chisel.  But  our  country  is  rich  in  sculptors  of  the  highest  ability 
and  promise,  and  they  should  not  lack  encouragement  from  home.  And 
may  not  the  Chapel  for  burial  service,  which  will  be  erected  as  soon  as  the 
means  of  the  Cemetery  shall  admit,  be  so  constructed  as  to  furnish  a  fitting 
receptacle  for  tablets  and  statuary  ?  In  such  an  edifice  the  kindred  arts 
of  architecture  and  sculpture  could  have  free  scope.  Rising  in  calm 
and  solemn  grandeur,  it  would  adorn  and  designate  the  Place  of  Graves. 
Sacred  to  religion  and  the  dead,  every  tender  and  holy  association  would 
gather  round  it.  There  affectionate  memory  might  consecrate  to  the  de- 
parted the  finest  works  of  genius,  and  feel  them  to  be  safe.  There  a  grate- 
ful community  might  rear  memorials  to  the  gifted  and  the  good — till  the 
stately,  and  growing,  and  crowded  pile  should  present,  at  length,  even  on 
our  western  shores,  a  Westminster  Abbey,  another  Santa  Croce. 

It  is  nearly  twenty  years  since  the  preceding  remarks  upon  tombstone 
inscriptions  were  written  at  the  suggestion  of  the  Comptroller.  Epitaphs 
at  that  time  seemed  to  be  going  out  of  use,  and  the  change  was  not  re- 
garded as  an  improvement.  This  little  essay  was  inserted,  among  other 
articles,  in  the  official  pamphlet  of  the  Cemetery  for  1845,  and  has  kept  its 
place  in  the  annual  and  biennial  issue  down  to  the  present  time.  Like 
Arthur  Morrell's  melancholy  stanzas  on  the  Bell,  it  seems  to  have  estab- 
lished a  prescriptive  right  to  appear  in  this  historical  appendix,  and  it  is 
on  that  account,  probably,  that  I  have  been  requested  to  put  it  here. 

In  1845  the  monumental  erections  in  the  cemetery  were  few  and  far  be- 
tween. Now  they  stand  thick  over  all  the  ground,  and  count  by  thousands. 
The  fear  that  Green-Wood  would  become  a  dreary  blank  of  uninscribed 
marble  has  not  been  realized.    There  is  no  lack  there  of  "  lapidary  lines," 


us 


APPENDIX. 


nor  can  we  complain  of  them  as  deficient  in  variety.  The  epitaphs  in 
these  grounds,  so  far  as  they  are  known  to  me — for  I  do  not  pretend  to 
have  seen  them  all — are  in  every  sort  of  style,  with  every  degree  of  merit. 
While  many  of  them  are  unexceptionable,  and  a  few  highly  appropriate  and 
beautiful,  I  can  say  but  little  in  praise  of  the  major  part. 

In  1853  I  again  presented  the  subject  of  epitaphs  in  the  closing  article 
of  "Hints  concerning  Green-Wood."  In  the  faint  hope  that  these  homi- 
lies may  do  something  towards  the  abatement  of  a  real  nuisance,  that 
article  is  repeated  here. 

EPITAPHS. 

"Eight  years  ago  we  wrote  a  plea  for  monumental  inscriptions.  It  was 
first  printed,  and  may  still  be  found,  in  the  Comptroller's  annual  pamphlet. 
From  various  causes,  some  of  which  are  there  suggested,  epitaphs  had 
gone  greatly  out  of  use.  They  had  become  unfashionable.  A  wish  was 
expressed  for  the  revival  of  a  custom  so  old  and  so  rational.  It  was  hoped 
that  in  Green- Wood,  then  just  starting,  we  might  be  allowed  to  read,  with 
quickened  sensibilities,  the  modest,  tender,  and  pious  inscription — and 
that  there  the  'Muse,'  whether  learned  or  'unlettered,'  might  strew  the 
holy  texts  which  alone  can  teach  us  how  to  die. 

"The  wish  and  the  hope  have  not  been  disappointed.  There  are  many 
neat  and  beautiful  epitaphs  in  Green-Wood.  But  with  the  good,  as  usual, 
has  come  also  the  evil.  Though  we  never  expected  perfection,  we  did  not 
anticipate  quite  so  large  a  measure  of  the  opposite  extreme.  Surely,  in  an 
age  and  land  of  vaunted  refinement  and  general  education,  our  tomb-stone 
literature  ought  to  be  free  from  gross  violations  of  syntax  and  orthography. 

"  An  inscription  for  the  dead  should  be  simple  in  style,  sparing  of  words, 
modest  in  eulogy.  The  long  and  labored  epitaph  is  seldom  read.  Glowing 
encomiums  are  received  with  distrust.  Excessive  praise — fulsome  always 
— seems  especially  so  when  heaped  on  the  dead.  These  are  principles 
generally  acknowledged,  though,  in  practice,  so  often  disregarded.  In- 
deed, we  have  seen  specimens  of  epitaphian  laudation,  which  indicated 
that  their  authors  had  resolved  into  an  affirmative  the  intense  negation  of 
the  poet : 

" 1  Can  Honor's  voice  provoke  the  silent  dust, 
Or  Flattery  soothe  the  dull,  cold  ear  of  death  T 

"There  is  in  Green-Wood  a  class  of  inscriptions — getting  now  to  be  very 


REGISTER  OF  INTERMENTS. 


149 


common — which,  at  first  thought,  may  seem  to  violate  no  rule  of  pro- 
priety. 'Father,'  'Mother,'  'Dear  Johnny,'  '  Our  sweet  Emmie,' and 
'Our  little  Bobby,'  when  first  seen,  seem  very  simple  and  tender — 
the  unstudied  utterance  of  filial  or  parental  grief,  which  could  vent 
itself  only  in  passionate  exclamation.  But  not  so,  when  the  once  solitary 
specimen  has  become  the  fashion,  and  stares  at  us  with  every  turn.  The 
expediency  of  such  expressions  on  the  tomb-stone,  under  any  circum- 
stances, may  well  be  questioned.  While  the  heart  of  our  friend  is  yet 
bleeding  under  some  recent  bereavement,  we  listen  sympathizingly  even  to 
his  extravagance  of  sorrow  or  of  praise.  But  sooner  or  later  the  time 
comes  when  such  language  is  heard  no  longer;  or  when,  if  uttered,  it  only 
grieves  and  offends  the  ear  of  friendship.  Surely  that  which  may  not  be 
spoken  occasionally  in  the  ear,  ought  not  to  be  obtruded  unceasingly  on 
the  eye.  Terms  of  fond  endearment  (if  ever  proper)  should  be  reserved 
for  the  sacredness  of  domestic  privacy.  When  forced  upon  the  indifferent 
by-stander,  they  are  always  disgusting — and  equally  so,  whether  lavished 
on  the  living  or  the  dead.  Fond  mourner  !  confine  your  passionate  utter- 
ances to  the  friendly  bosoms  that  share  your  grief ;  or,  still  better,  breathe 
them  only  in  your  secret  sighs." 


XIII.— REGISTER  OF  INTERMENTS. 

The  entries  are  made  in  folio  volumes  of  great  size,  ruled  for  the  pur- 
pose, with  eleven  separate  heads,  as  follows : 

1.  Date  of  decease.  2.  Name  of  person.  3.  Nativity.  4.  Age — in 
years,  months,  and  days.  5.  Residence,  with  city  and  street.  6.  Married 
or  single.  7.  Disease.  8.  No.  of  lot.  9.  No.  of  grave.  10.  Miscellane- 
ous.   11.  Name  of  Undertaker. 

The  first  volume  begins  Sept.  5,  1840,  and  ends  Aug.  27,  1850. 

The  entries  from  March  4,  1843,  to  Aug.  12,  1846,  are  in  Mr.  Perry's 
hand-writing. 

The  fifth  volume  of  the  Register  is  now  nearly  full.  The  whole  num- 
ber of  names  entered  in  the  voluminous  record,  down  to  this  thirteenth 
of  July,  1864,  is  103,534. 

The  work  of  making  an  index  to  this  vast  catalogue  of  names  was  be- 
2L 


150 


APPENDIX. 


gun  about  five  years  since,  and  is  now  complete.  The  initials  of  the 
names  are  entered  in  the  order  of  the  alphabet,  and  classified  in  the  order 
of  the  vowels.  Almost  instant  reference  can  now  be  made  to  any  entry  in 
the  Kegister.  The  utility  and  convenience  of  this  index  are  beyond 
estimate. 


XIV. — THE  ORIGINAL  ENTRANCE. 

Many  who  remember  Green-TVood  in  its  day  of  small  things,  will  look 
with  interest  on  the  wood-cut  which  reproduces  and  preserves  the  image 
of  its  first  rude  entrance.  To  some,  possibly,  the  memory  of  its  simple 
beauty  blended  with  thoughts  and  sorrows  of  the  past,  affords  greater 
pleasure  than  any  more  imposing  gateway  has  given  or  can  give.  The 
following  description  of  it  from  "Green-Wood  Illustrated,"  p.  8,  may  help 
such  persons  to  recall  what  it  was,  and  will,  at  least,  show  that  we  en- 
deavored to  make  the  most  of  it : 

"  The  entrance  is  perfectly  simple.  On  the  left  of  the  gate  is  a  rustic 
lod<re,  for  the  temporary  accommodation  of  visitors.  On  the  right,  and  in 
the  same  style,  is  a  small  tower,  with  a  bell  to  summon  the  porter.  These 
unambitious  structures  will  be  found  in  good  keeping  with  each  other, 
and  with  the  position  they  occupy.  They  possess  beauty  of  form,  and  of 
fitness  likewise.  Perhaps  some,  accustomed  to  more  imposing  entrances, 
may  feel  disappointed  by  the  modest  humility  of  this.  But  may  not  the 
taste  at  least  be  questioned,  which  makes  the  passage-way  from  one  open 
space  to  another  through  some  lofty  arch  or  massive  building  ?  Can  such 
a  structure  look  well,  with  no  support  on  either  side  of  it  but  an  ordinary 
fence?  Must  it  not  always  lack  the  beauty  of  adaptation  to  an  end — the 
essential  beauty  of  usefulness  ?  And  if  it  be,  as  most  frequently,  of  Grecian 
or  Egyptian  model,  is  it  not  incongruous  with  the  spirit  and  associations 
of  a  Christian  cemetery?  Of  the  simple  entrance  temporarily  made  for 
these  grounds,  we  may  at  least  say,  that  here  Art  raises  no  false  expecta- 
tion, nor  does  it  offend  by  unnatural  contrasts.  But,  enter.  If  the  artifi- 
cial portal  be  deficient  in  dignity,  not  so  will  you  find  that  of  Nature. 
You  are  now  in  a  vestibule  of  her  own  making.  Its  floor  is  a  delicious 
green-sward;  its  walls  are  the  steep  hill-side;  lofty  trees,  with  their  leafy 


THE  SUPERINTENDENTS. 


151 


capitals,  form  its  colonnade ;  and  its  ceiling  is  the  azure  vault.  Here,  if 
alive  to  gentle  influences,  you  will  pause  a  moment.  You  will  shake  from 
your  feet  the  city's  dust,  and  leave  behind  you  its  cares  and  follies.  You 
are  within  the  precinct  of  a  great  primeval  temple,  now  forever  set  apart 
to  pious  uses.    You  have  come, 

'Not  to  the  domes  where  crumbling  arch  and  column 

Attest  the  feebleness  of  mortal  hand; 
But  to  that  fane,  most  catholic  and  solemn, 
Which  God  hath  planned.' 

Explore  its  aisles  and  courts — survey  its  beauties — breathe  its  fresh  air — 
enjoy  its  quiet — drink  in  its  music — and  lay  to  heart  its  lessons  of  mor- 
tality, as  well  as  its  higher  teachings  of  faith  and  love." 


XV.— THE  SUPERINTENDENTS. 

Those  who  have  been  familiar  with  Green-Wood  and  its  management, 
need  not  be  told  that  the  Institution  has  been  singularly  favored  in  the 
character  and  stability  of  the  men  employed  as  officers  on  the  ground. 
Mr.  Scrimgeour,  the  Superintendent  of  Interments,  has  been  in  the  em- 
ploy of  the  Company  almost  from  the  beginning.  His  name,  as  "Keeper 
of  the  Grounds,"  first  appears  in  the  Report  for  1844.  During  these 
twenty-five  years  he  has  provided  for  and  attended  to  more  than  a  hun- 
dred thousand  funerals.  In  his  business  transactions  with  more  than  a 
myriad  of  lot  owners — transactions  calling  often  for  patience  and  courte- 
ous tact,  as  well  as  for  decision  and  good  judgment — he  has  rarely  failed 
to  give  satisfaction  on  all  sides.  It  is  no  slight  advantage  to  have  in  his 
position  one  who  is  familiar  with  every  inch  of  ground  in  the  Cemetery, 
and  with  every  fact  in  its  history.  Mr.  Scrimgeour  has  grown  gray  in  the 
service — but  there  is  no  other  mark  of  decay,  and  we  trust  he  is  good  for 
many  years  to  come. 

From  1848  to  1853  Mr.  George  Birrell  was  Superintendent  of  the 
"Workmen.  They  were  years  in  which  a  great  deal  was  done  in  the  way 
of  grading  and  forming  the  surface  of  the  Cemetery.  Many  deformities 
were  removed — many  beauties  were  added.    In  numerous  instances,  soft- 


152 


APPENDIX. 


ness,  variety,  and  grace  were  imparted  to  the  original  features  of  the 
ground.  In  all  work  of  this  kind,  George  Birrell  showed  uncommon 
ability.  He  was  indeed  a  genius  in  his  way,  and,  under  favoring  circum- 
stances, might  have  become  a  landscape  gardener  of  no  mean  renown.  To 
his  accurate  and  tasteful  eye,  his  unerring  judgment,  and  skilful  hand, 
Green-Wood  certainly  owes  much. 

George  Gamgee,  Mr.  Birrell's  successor  in  the  office,  is  now  in  his 
tenth  year  of  faithful  and  successful  service.  The  importance  and  respon- 
sibilities of  this  post  will  be  seen,  when  it  is  considered  how  large  a  force 
the  Superintendent  of  Workmen  has  always  under  his  care — how  constant 
and  various  the  work  to  be  done — and  how  extensive  the  space  over 
which  it  is  spread.  That  Mr.  Gamgee  knows  how  to  direct  and  handle  his 
little  army  of  laborers,  is  well  known  to  all  who  are  familiar  with  the  in- 
ternal operations  of  Green-Wood  Cemetery.  Besides  a  vast  amount  of 
heavy  work  in  excavation,  grading,  &c,  which  has  been  done,  and  done 
well,  under  his  administration,  it  has  devolved  on  him  to  keep  those  exten- 
sive grounds,  with  all  their  open  and  their  enclosed  spaces,  their  hills  and 
hollows,  their  roads,  paths,  and  gutters,  their  ponds  and  drains,  in  a  stato 
of  constant  neatness  and  perfect  order.  ]STo  person,  with  the  slightest 
experience  in  the  care  of  ornamental  grounds,  will  imagine  this  to  be  an 
easy  task.  Thousands  of  visitors  can  testify  that  the  service  has  been  well 
performed  in  Green-Wood. 

Some  idea  of  the  kind  and  the  amount  of  labor  necessary  to  conduct 
the  operations  of  a  large  cemetery,  may  be  derived  from  the  following 
statement,  taken  from  the  General  Report  of  Receipts  and  Expenditures. 
The  year  referred  to  was  1SG0  : — 

"  Average  number  of  workmen  during  the  summer,  about  250.  Of  these 
there  are  employed  in  digging  and  sodding  graves,  45  ;  in  mowing  the  en- 
tire ground,  including  all  occupied  lots,  50;  in  raking,  20;  in  grading,  40; 
in  the  making  of  roads  and  paths,  and  in  paving,  25 ;  in  stone-breaking,  4. 
Thirty-two  carts  (whose  drivers  are  included  in  the  aggregate  of  work- 
men) are  employed  as  follows:  in  grading,  24;  in  carting  grass,  2;  in 
connection  with  the  graves,  2 ;  upon  roads  and  paths,  4." 

To  insure  regularity  and  efficiency  of  action,  these  men  are  arranged  in 
several  gangs,  each  of  which  has  its  foreman.  To  a  certain  extent,  each  of 
these  leaders  is  responsible  for  his  small  command,  and  thus  the  faithful 
accomplishment  of  his  allotted  task  becomes  with  him  a  matter  of  pride 
as  well  as  of  duty. 


THE  SURVEYOR. 


153 


As  a  general  thing,  these  Green-Wood  operatives  are  entitled  to  honor- 
able mention :  they  have  come  mostly  from  the  better  class  of  Irish 
laborers.  As  a  place  on  the  pay-roll  of  the  Cemetery  has  almost  always 
been  an  object  of  some  competition,  it  has  been  easy  to  dismiss  the  un- 
worthy, and  to  select  from  the  best.  Some  of  these  men  have  been  on 
the  ground  almost  from  the  first,  and  many  of  them  count  their  service  by 
years. 

There  has  been  no  strike  among  these  workmen.  The  necessity  of  an 
advance  in  the  price  of  labor  has  been  cheerfully  recognized  by  the  Trustees, 
and  arrangements  have  been  made  in  that  respect  which  are  perfectly 
satisfactory  to  both  parties. 

Among  these  subordinates,  some  have  died  in  the  service  of  the  Com- 
pany. It  is  a  pleasure  to  record  here  the  name  of  John  O'Shaughnessy 
the  first,  and,  for  some  time,  the  only  grave-digger  of  Green-Wood.  In 
his  own  department,  John  was  unquestionably  a  master.  Nothing  could 
exceed  the  exactness  and  neatness  of  his  graves.  From  the  deep  narrow 
beds  which  he  prepared,  not  an  ounce  of  superfluous  earth  was  ever 
thrown.  ."No  pile  of  masonry  shaped  by  square  and  plummet  could  be 
more  exactly  true  than  his  rectangular  excavations.  Indeed,  it  may 
be  doubted  if  Upjohn  and  Eidlitz  take  more  pride  in  their  finest  struc- 
tures, than  our  honest  O'Shaughnessy  took  in  his  graves.  Poor  fellow ! 
what  a  satisfaction  it  would  have  been  to  him,  could  he  only  have  dug  his 
own! 


XVI. — THE  SUEVEYOK. 

Foe  sixteen  years,  all  the  surveying  and  mapping  of  Green-Wood  has 
been  done  by  Mr.  Lindsay  J.  Wells.  The  trigonometrical  survey  of 
the  whole  ground  then  included  in  the  Cemetery,  made  by  young  Mr. 
Boyle,  and  mentioned  in  the  History,  was  so  admirably  exact,  that  a 
single  and  very  slight  deviation  is  the  only  error  which  has  been  discovered 
in  it.  With  this  extensive  ground-plan  in  his  hands,  it  has  been  Mr.  Wells's 
task  to  make  out  an  almost  infinite  multiplicity  of  detail ;  to  measure  and 
map  every  inch  of  the  irregular  surface ;  to  delineate  with  perfect  accuracy 
many  miles  of  road  and  path  ;  and  to  lay  down  some  fifteen  thousand  lots. 


154 


APPENDIX. 


in  all  their  diversity  of  shape  and  size,  of  angle,  line,  and  curve.  The  large 
and  excellent  charts,  which  are  in  constant  use  at  the  offices,  bear  full 
testimony  to  his  accuracy  as  a  surveyor,  and  to  his  industry  and  skill  as  a 
draughtsman.  Of  that  accuracy,  it  is  no  slight  evidence  that,  among  the 
many  thousand  owners  of  little  Green- Wood  tracts,  no  question  as  to  the 
correctness  of  lines  and  boundaries  has  ever  arisen. 

"Without  these  delineations,  equally  exact  and  minute,  the  operations  of 
the  Company  could  hardly  go  on.  They  are  the  only  safeguard  against 
perpetual  mistakes,  confusion,  irritation,  and  dispute.  Nor  are  they  lightly 
to  be  esteemed  as  a  means  of  satisfactory  information  on  various  questions 
of  interest,  which  are  likely  to  come  up  in  the  future,  among  the  multi- 
tudes who  are  and  who  will  be  connected  in  some  way  with  Green- 
Wood. 

A  map  of  the  Cemetery,  about  three  feet  square,  has  been  for  many 
months  in  the  hands  of  the  lithographer,  and  will  soon  be  ready  for  use. 
No  pains  have  been  spared  to  make  this  a  complete  and  perfect  chart  of 
Green- Wood.  Even  the  more  important  monuments  will  be  marked  and 
designated  upon  it.  Reduced  by  the  photographic  process,  it  will  furnish 
a  hand  map  that  will  make  other  guides  almost  superfluous. 


DAVID  B.  DOUGLASS. 


155 


Part  Seconfr. 


I.— DAVID  B.  DOUGLASS. 

Datid  Bates  Douglass  was  born  (1790)  at  Pompton,  in  New  Jersey. 
Having  graduated  at  Yale  College,  in  1813,  he  went  at  once  into  the  army 
as  Second  Lieutenant  of  Engineers,  and  soon  saw  active  service  in  the 
battle  of  Niagara  and  in  the  defence  of  Fort  Erie.  The  war  over,  he  be- 
came an  assistant  professor  at  West  Point.  In  1819  and  1820,  he  served  as 
astronomical  surveyor  in  the  commission  for  settling  our  northwestern 
boundary,  and  about  the  same  time  was  appointed  Professor  of  Mathe- 
matics in  the  Military  Academy.  In  1823,  he  was  transferred  to  the  chair 
of  civil  and  military  engineering.  To  this  science,  then  comparatively  new 
among  us,  Major  Douglass  devoted  himself  with  ardor  and  success. 
During  several  of  the  summer  recesses  he  acted  as  consulting  engineer  in 
the  public  works  of  Pennsylvania.  In  1831,  he  resigned  his  post  at  West 
Point,  removed  to  Brooklyn,  and  became  chief  engineer  of  the  Morris 
Canal.  Soon  after,  he  was  chosen  Professor  of  Civil  Architecture  in  the 
University  of  New  York,  and  made  the  designs  for  its  College-building. 
In  the  summer  of  1833,  he  began  his  surveys  for  the  work  of  supplying 
New  York  with  water.  His  first  report  was  submitted  in  the  autumn  of 
that  year,  and  clearly  proved  the  feasibility  of  bringing  a  supply  from  the 
Croton  River.  Acting  on  the  plans  and  estimates  which  he  furnished,  the 
City  Government,  in  1835,  resolved  to  build  the  aqueduct.  Appointed 
Chief  Engineer  by  the  Board  of  Commissioners,  Major  Douglass  proceeded 
to  lay  out  the  line  of  the  aqueduct  and  to  complete  his  plans.  He  had 
accomplished  the  preliminary  work,  when  he  was  superseded.  That  this 
was  not  owing  to  any  want  of  confidence  in  his  judgment  or  skill,  may  be 
inferred  from  the  fact  that  his  plans  were  adopted  and  carried  out  by  his 


156 


APPENDIX. 


successors.  Fur  his  early  and  highly  useful  labors  in  connection  with  the 
Croton  Aqueduct,  the  name  of  Major  Douglass  should  be  held  in  honored 
remembrance,  as  long  as  the  healthful  and  refreshing  stream  shall  run  iu 
the  channel  which  he  marked  out  for  it.  In  183S,  and  the  two  following 
years,  he  was,  as  our  history  shows,  much  occupied  with  the  affairs  of 
Green-TTood.  In  the  spring  of  1841,  he  entered  on  his  duties  as  President 
of  Kenyon  College,  at  Gambier,  Ohio.  In  1S44,  he  resigned,  and  returned 
to  Xew  York.  During  the  next  four  years,  he  was  employed  as  a  lecturer, 
and  turned  his  taste  and  skill  to  account,  "in  developing  the  landscape 
features  of  Staten  Island,  in  laying  out  the  Albany  Cemetery,  and  also  the 
Protestant  Cemetery  at  Quebec."  He  was  appointed,  in  1848,  Professor  of 
Mathematics  and  Natural  Philosophy  in  the  College  at  Geneva,  X.  Y., 
and  ended  his  life  of  active  and  varied  usefulness  on  the  21st  of  October. 
1849. 


II. — GARRET  BERGEN". 

Hans  Hansen  Bergen,  first  immigrant  of  the  name,  and  founder  of 
the  Bergen  family  here,  though  he  came  over  with  the  Dutch,  was  un- 
doubtedly a  Norwegian.  His  very  name  tells  the  story — Hans,  son  of 
Hans,  of  Bergen.  He  was  a  ship-carpenter,  and  took  to  wife  Sarah  Jan  sen 
de  Rapelye,  the  first  child  of  European  parents  born  in  the  colony.  Her 
father  was  one  of  the  Huguenots.  Their  son  Michael  had  a  son  Hans 
(or  John),  and  this  Hans  was  the  father  of  Tunis  (born  1730,  d.  1807),  who 
bought  the  Gowanus  farm,  and  left  it  to  his  son  Garret.  Garret  was  born 
in  1772.  The  house  in  which  he  lived  and  died  (184-5)  was  bought  in 
1773,  and  is  still  occupied  by  his  son,  Garret  G.  Though  only  four  years 
old  on  the  Long  Island  battle-day,  Mr.  Bergen  remembered  it  well. 
Mr.  Bergen  was  a  farmer,  a  justice  of  the  peace,  an  elder  in  the  Church, 
and,  better  than  all  these,  an  upright  man,  whose  word  was  as  good  as  his 
bond,  and  whose  conscientious  life  was  admired  and  respected  by  all  who 
knew  him. 

Mr.  Bergen  is  still  well  represented.  His  oldest  son,  Tunis  G.,  is  favor- 
ably known  as  a  public  man  and  profound  genealogist.  Peter  G.  is  a 
trader  in  Xew  York.  John  G.  is  the  able  and  popular  Police  Commissioner. 
Garret  G.  is  a  farmer.    The  only  daughter  married  Tunis  S.  Barkeloo. 


THOMAS  LUDLOW  OGDEN. 


157 


III. — THOMAS  LUDLOW  OGDEN. 

Me.  Ogden-  was  born  (1773)  in  Newark,  N.  J.  During  the  Revolu- 
tionary contest,  his  father,  Abraham  Ogden,  then  of  Morristown,  joined 
the  cause  of  freedom,  while  his  grandfather,  David  Ogden,  and  two  of  his 
undes,  adhered  to  the  royal  side  and  were  expatriated.  Abraham  Ogden 
was  a  profound  lawyer  and  a  truly  good  man.  By  President  Washington, 
who  well  knew  his  worth,  he  was  made  IT.  S.  District  Attorney  for  New 
Jersey,  and  held  the  office  when  he  died,  in  1793. 

The  same  year,  Thomas  Ludlow,  who  had  graduated  at  Columbia  Col- 
lege, and  who  had  studied  the  law,  partly  with  his  father  and  partly  with 
Richard  Harrison,  was  admitted  to  the  New  York  bar.  Not  long  after- 
wards he  became  professionally  associated  with  Alexander  Hamilton — a 
connection  which  was  terminated  by  the  tragic  and  lamented  death  of 
that  great  man. 

From  the  first,  Mr.  Ogden  took  a  lively  interest  in  all  that  concerned 
the  welfare  and  advancement  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church.  For 
thirty-eight  years  he  was  an  active  and  most  influential  member  of  the 
Vestry  of  Trinity  Church,  and,  for  several  years  previous  to  his  death,  he 
was  the  senior  Avarden  of  that  wealthy  and  powerful  corporation.  He 
was  one  of  the  original  Trustees  of  Green- Wood  Cemetery,  and  a  very 
useful  member  of  the  board.    Mr.  Ogden  died  in  1844. 

The  following  words  from  a  tablet  inscribed  to  his  memory,  in  the 
robing-room  of  Trinity  Church,  render,  it  is  believed,  no  more  than  jus- 
tice to  the  virtues  of  Mr.  Ogden:  "His  long  life  was  one  of  usefulness 
and  duty  to  his  family,  to  his  profession,  and  to  society.  Born  and  nur- 
tured in  the  bosom  of  the  Church,  he  gave  back  to  her,  with  filial  grati- 
tude, his  best  powers,  his  most  valued  time,  his  dearest  affections,  and,  in 
all  her  institutions,  stood  foremost  in  both  counsel  and  action." 


158 


APPENDIX. 


IV.—  JONATHAN  GOODHUE. 

From  a  discourse  delivered  soon  after  the*  death  of  Mr.  Goodhue  by  his 
friend  and  pastor,  Dr.  Bellows,  we  make  a  few  extracts : 

"  Joxathax  Goodhue,  the  son  of  the  Hon.  Benjamin  Goodhue,  Senator 
from  Massachusetts,  came  to  this  city  about  forty  years  ago,  and  entered 
upon  mercantile  life.  The  public  know  him  only  as  a  merchant.  He  has 
filled  no  political  offices,  nor  made  himself  conspicuous  in  any  philanthropic 
causes.  Except  in  his  commercial  capacity,  we  have  not  been  accustomed  to 
hear  his  name  in  the  mouth  of  the  public,  nor  to  see  it  in  the  columns  of 
our  newspapers.  ISTo  man's  life  had  fewer  incidents  of  an  exciting  char- 
acter, or  offers  more  meagre  matter  for  the  biographer.  More  than  almost 
any  other  citizen  of  similar  intelligence,  experience,  and  standing,  might 
he  be  styled  a  private  person." 

"  Why  then  is  it  that,  with  an  almost  unequalled  demonstration  of  sor- 
row and  bereavement,  this  community  gathers  about  his  grave,  and  testi- 
fies in  the  sincerest  and  heartiest  forms  its  reverence  and  love  ?  Whence 
this  burst  of  admiration,  respect,  and  affection,  coming  simultaneously 
from  every  portion  of  the  public  ;  uttered  through  the  resolutions  of  com- 
mercial bodies  ;  speaking  from  the  lips  of  the  press ;  and,  above  all,  fall- 
ing in  tones  of  tenderness  from  private  tongues  in  all  classes  of  society  ? 
It  is  as  if  every  one  had  lost  a  friend,  a  guide,  an  example ;  one  who,  he  is 
surprised  to  find,  has  been  equally  the  object  of  respect  and  affection  to 
ten  thousand  others !  He  filled  so  quiet,  so  unobtrusive,  and  so  steady  a 
place  among  us,  that  our  thoughts  were  never  directly  or  abruptly  fixed 
on  him,  and  therefore  we  are  almost  taken  by  surprise,  when  forced  by 
general  testimony  to  acknowledge  that  no  man  could  be  taken  from  this 
community  amid  such  general  regrets,  possessing  such  universal  con- 
fidence, or  filling  a  larger  place  in  its  affections  and  respect." 

"  It  is  not  what  he  has  done,  but  what  he  lias  been,  which  thus  attracts 
the  gratitude  and  respect  of  this  community.  Jonathan  Goodhue  had  suc- 
ceeded, during  a  long  and  active  life  of  business,  in  which  he  became 
known  to  almost  all  our  people  through  the  ordinary  relations  of  trade 
and  commerce,  in  impressing  them  with  a  deep  and  unquestioning  sense  of 
his  personal  integrity  and  essential  goodness.  Collecting  its  evidence  from 
a  thousand  untraceable  sources — from  the  unconscious  notice  of  his  uni- 


GEERIT  G.  VAN  WAGENEN. 


159 


form  and  consistent  life — from  the  indirect  testimony  of  the  thousands  who 
dealt  with  him — from  personal  observation,  and  from  the  very  counte- 
nance and  manners  of  the  man,  this  community  had  become  penetrated  with 
the  conviction  of  his  changeless  virtue — of  his  spotless  honor — of  his 
secret  and  thorough  worth.  He  occupied  what  is  ever  to  be  viewed  as 
the  greatest  of  all  earthly  positions,  that  of  a  witness  to  the  reality  of  vir- 
tue, and  one  whose  testimony  was  accepted.  If  we  ask  what  the  public 
is  now  so  gratefully  contemplating  in  the  memory  of  Jonathan  Goodhue, 
we  find  that  it  is  not  his  public  services,  not  his  commercial  importance, 
not  even  his  particular  virtues  and  graces.  It  is  the  man  himself;  the 
pure,  high-minded,  righteous  man,  with  gentle  and  full  affection,  who 
adorned  our  nature — who  dignified  the  mercantile  profession — who  was 
superior  to  his  station,  his  riches,  his  exposures — and  made  the  common 
virtues  more  respected  and  venerated  than  shining  talents  or  public 
honors ;  who  vindicated  the  dignity  of  common  life,  and  carried  a  high, 
large,  and  noble  spirit  into  ordinary  affairs ;  who  made  men  recognize 
something  inviolable  and  awful  even  in  the  private  conscience,  and  thus 
gave  sanctity  and  value  to  our  common  humanity !  Yes,  my  brethren, 
this  was  the  power,  this  the  attraction,  this  the  value  of  Jonathan  Good- 
hue's life.  He  has  made  men  believe  in  virtue.  He  has  made  them  honor 
character  more  than  station  or  wealth !  He  has  illustrated  the  possible 
purity,  disinterestedness,  and  elevation  of  mercantile  life  !  He  has  shown 
that  a  rich  man  can  enter  the  kingdom  of  Heaven.  He  stands  up,  by 
acclamation,  as  the  model  of  a  Christian  Merchant." 


V.— GEERIT  G.  VAN  WAGENEN. 

Gereit  G.  Van  Wagenen,  son  of  Gerrit  Hubert  Van  Wagenen,  was 
born  in  the  City  of  New  York,  in  the  year  1800.  He  graduated  at  Co- 
lumbia College  in  1821,  studied  law  with  Judge  Radcliff,  attended  a  course 
of  lectures  in  the  Litchfield  Law  School,  and  was  admitted  to  practice  in 
1824.  A  professional  connection  formed  soon  after,  with  Thomas  L. 
Wells,  Esq.  (son  of  the  celebrated  John  Wells),  was  continued  to  almost 
the  date  of  his  decease. 

If  good  abilities,  sound  learning,  rare  judgment,  and  sterling  integrity 
are  qualifications  for  usefulness  in  public  life,  Mr.  Van  Wagenen  should 


IGO 


APPENDIX. 


have  been  a  public  man.  But  bis  nature,  gentle  and  retiring,  ill  fitted  him 
for  the  political  arena,  on  which,  indeed,  he  seldom  ventured.  He  served 
a  short  time  as  Alderman  in  the  City  of  Brooklyn,  and,  with  this  excep- 
tion, it  is  not  remembered  that  he  accepted  or  sought  any  position  depend- 
ent on  the  popular  gift.  As  an  officer,  however,  in  various  literary  and 
charitable  institutions,  his  services  were  numerous  and  exceedingly  valu- 
able. He  was  President  for  several  years  of  the  Brooklyn  Female  Insti- 
tute. Columbia  College,  of  which  he  was  a  Trustee  and  also  Treasurer, 
is  largely  indebted  to  the  judgment  and  skill  which  he  exhibited  in  the 
lease  and  sale  of  its  real  estate.  He  was  a  Trustee  of  the  Society  for  the 
Promotion  of  Religion  and  Learning ;  a  Trustee  and  also  Secretary  of  the 
"Aged  and  Infirm  Clergy  Fund."  He  was  one  of  the  Standing  Committee 
of  the  Diocese  of  New  York,  and  Treasurer  of  the  Corporation  for  the 
Pielief  of  Widows  and  Children  of  Clergymen  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  in  the  State  of  New  York.  Our  History  of  Green-Wood  Cemetery 
shows,  to  some  extent,  the  invaluable  services  rendered  by  Mr.  Van  Wag- 
enen,  as  a  Trustee  of  that  Institution.  Intimately  associated  with  its  pro- 
jectors, his  interest  in  the  enterprise  dates  from  the  beginning.  During 
the  dark  days  of  their  early  struggles,  they  relied  safely  and  successfully 
on  his  sagacious  counsels.  Generously,  gratuitously,  for  more  than  twenty 
years,  he  gave  the  corporation  the  rich  benefit  of  his  professional  advice. 
To  few  men  do  Green-Wood,  and  all  who  are  interested  in  Green-Wood, 
owe  more  than  to  Gerrit  G.  Van  Wagenen. 

Mr.  Van  Wagenen  died  September  27,  1858.  nis  wife,  whose  death 
preceded  his,  was  Anna  Pierrepont,  eldest  daughter  of  nezekiah  B. 
Pierrepont.    One  son,  Gerrit  Hubert,  survives. 

The  following  portraiture  of  a  character  singularly  beautiful  is  inserted 
by  permission.  It  is  from  the  diary  of  one  of  Mr.  Van  Wagenen's  intimate 
friends,  and  was  written  at  the  time  of  his  decease: 

"  In  intellect  he  was  bright  and  commanding, — in  virtue,  transcend- 
ency superior.  For  sound  judgment  and  discrimination  he  was  unrivalled ; 
always  firm,  yet  never  arrogant.  In  manner,  modest  and  urbane,  but 
manly;  in  faith  and  practice,  a  true  Christian,  which  so  exhibited  them- 
selves, that  a  daily  beauty  of  life  signally  distinguished  him  ;  in  inter- 
course, polite  and  dignified,  commanding  the  respect  of  all  who  came 
about  him.  With  his  intimate  friends  he  was  free  and  unreserved  in  con- 
versation, and  it  was  a  sweet  enjoyment  to  him  to  relax  among  them,  and 
to  intermingle  his  heart  with  theirs.    He  will  not  only  be  missed  from 


GEORGE  GRI8T.VOLD. 


101 


among  them,  but  his  loss  will  be  long  and  deeply  felt.  As  years  roll  on, 
his  fine  character  will  dwell  in  the  memory  of  friends,  and  in  looking 
around  among  men,  they  will  realize  how  much  it  is  heightened  by  com- 
parison. As  a  friend,  he  was  ever  true  and  constant ;  as  a  man,  always 
reliable,  from  his  unwavering  integrity.  lie  was  a  sound  and  enlightened 
lawyer,  with  habits  of  business  marked  by  industry  and  carefulness.  In 
his  character  there  was  collected  together  that  number  of  virtues  which 
made  him  a  rare  man." 


YI. — GEORGE  GRISWOLD. 

Geoege  Geiswold  was  born  (1777)  in  Lyme,  Connecticut,  where  his 
father  cultivated  a  small  farm,  and  where  lived,  more  than  a  century  earlier, 
his  immigrant  ancestor,  Matthew  Griswold.  At  the  age  of  seventeen,  he 
began  life  as  clerk  in  a  retail  store  at  Hartford.  In  179G,  he  joined  his 
brother  Xathaniel,  and,  two  years  later,  became  one  of  the  firm,  so  long 
and  so  well  known  as  the  house  of  "Nathaniel  L.  and  George  Griswold." 
They  had  but  small  means  to  start  with,  but  "  soon  acquired  credit,  and  by  in- 
dustry and  skilful  management,  steadily  advanced  in  wealth  and  influence." 
After  about  five  years  of  moderate  business,  they  began  to  embark  in  dis- 
tant and  important  enterprises,  and  sent  their  ships  to  almost  every  part 
of  the  world  then  open  to  our  commerce. 

"  Geoege  Geiswold  early  rose  to  the  very  front  rank  of  merchants  for 
intelligence,  comprehensiveness  of  view,  and  signal  ability ;  and  he  main- 
tained this  position  during  the  whole  of  his  prime."  "  His  perception  was 
clear  and  ready,  his  decision  prompt,  his  action  full  of  energy.  His  high 
integrity  and  sound  judgment  commanded  public  confidence,  and  led  to  his 
being  often  selected  as  arbiter,  or  umpire,  in  commercial  disputes.  He 
made  the  law  of  marine  insurance  a  subject  of  special  study,  and  his 
opinion  on  difficult  cases  had,  for  many  years,  a  weight  not  surpassed, 
probably,  by  that  of  any  contemporary,  lay  or  professional." 

Notwithstanding  the  extent  of  Mr.  Griswold's  engagements,  he  was  by 
no  means  absorbed  by  them,  but  was  ready  to  answer  those  claims  upon 
time  and  service  which  are  acknowledged  by  every  public-spirited  citizen. 
"  He  sought  to  promote  the  improvement  and  good  repute  of  the  city  where 


162 


APPENDIX. 


lie  lived.  He  took  a  leading  part  in  the  organization  of  the  University  of 
the  City  of  New  York,  and  afterwards  in  supporting  it  with  pecuniary 
contributions,  and  by  his  services  as  an  efficient  member  of  the  council." 
The  calls  of  distress — the  thousand  claims  of  benevolence  and  charity, 
whether  public  or  private — were  met  with  cheerful  liberality. 

As  a  Trustee  of  the  Green-Wood  Cemetery,  he  was  prompt  and  useful. 
In  the  effort  which  resulted  in  placing  upon  its  grounds  the  bronze  statue 
of  De  Witt  Clinton — the  only  monument  yet  raised  in  the  State  of  New 
York  to  her  greatest  son  and  benefactor — Mr.  Griswold  bore  a  prominent 
and  generous  part. 

"In  person,  Mr.  Griswold  presented  a  fine  specimen  of  the  vigorous  race 
to  which  he  belonged.  Nearly  six  feet  in  height,  erect,  muscular,  well 
balanced,  his  carriage  was  graceful,  his  activity  and  strength  seldom 
surpassed.  lie  ever  maintained  a  spotless  moral  character,  and  in  the 
management  of  his  business,  and  the  intercourse  of  life,  was  guided  by 
principles  of  honor  and  justice."  He  had  reached  his  eighty-third  year, 
when,  in  1859,  the  summons  came,  "that  comes  to  all." 


VII.— ALOXZO  G.  nAMMOND. 

Aloxzo  G.  Hammoxd  was  born  (1789)  in  Berlin,  New  York;  studied 
law  under  the  direction  of  Charles  M.  Davis,  Esq.,  of  Troy,  and  became  a 
member  of  the  Rensselaer  County  Bar.  In  1828,  and  again  in  1833,  he 
was  a  member  of  the  State  Assembly.  In  1834,  Brooklyn  became  an 
incorporated  city,  with  a  large  accession  of  territory,  involving  the  necessity 
of  laying  out  new  streets  and  avenues.  To  secure  a  judicious  and  impartial 
accomplishment  of  this  important  work,  a  commission,  endued  with  plenary 
power,  and  composed  of  men  from  other  parts  of  the  State,  was  estab- 
lished by  the  Legislature,  and  Mr.  Hammond  was  placed  upon  it.  Of  this 
Board  he  was  the  most  influential,  or  certainly  the  most  active  member, 
as  on  him  was  devolved  the  arduous  task  of  attending  to  the  details  of 
surveying,  mapping,  &c,  and  of  preparing  a  plan  for  ultimate  action,  ne 
devoted  himself  indefatigably  to  this  service,  and,  it  is  believed,  to  the 
entire  satisfaction  of  his  associates,  and  of  the  citizens  generally. 

After  the  completion  of  this  work,  he  was  appointed  a  Commissioner 
of  the  Supreme  Court.    This  office,  as  the  conrts  were  then  constituted, 


WILLIAM  SHEPAED  WETMOEE. 


163 


was  equivalent  to  that  of  a  Judge  in  Chambers.  Still  later,  he  was  ap- 
pointed Surrogate  and  Judge  of  Probate  for  the  County  of  Kings,  and 
held  the  office  four  years. 

Judge  Hammond  took  an  early  and  a  deep  interest  in  the  Cemetery 
enterprise,  and,  as  Commissioner  for  the  City  Survey,  did  much  to  facilitate 
the  efforts  of  the  projectors.  At  the  first  election  of  Trustees,  in  1838, 
he  became  a  member  of  the  Board,  and  so  continued  until  his  death,  which 
occurred  December  21st  1859. 


VLTL— WILLIAM  SHEPARD  WETMORE. 

Mr.  Wetmore  was  born  January  25,  1801,  at  St.  Albans,  in  Vermont. 
His  father,  Seth  Wetmore,  was  a  native  of  Middletown,  Connecticut.  He 
was  named  from  his  maternal  grandfather,  General  William  Shepard,  an 
officer  of  distinction  in  the  war  of  Revolution,  and  commander  of  the  forces 
raised  by  Massachusetts  for  the  suppression  of  Shays'  rebellion.  Erom 
school,  young  Wetmore  went  as  clerk  into  a  store  in  Middletown,  and 
afterwards  had  a  similar  position  in  Providence.  Then  he  was  sent  out 
as  supercargo  to  South  America  and  to  Asia.  In  1823,  he  established, 
in  connection  with  Richard  Alsop,  of  Middletown,  the  house  of  Wetmore 
and  Alsop,  of  Lima  and  Valparaiso.  Six  years  later  he  retired  from 
the  firm,  with  a  handsome  fortune.  In  1833,  Mr.  Wetmore,  in  company 
with  Mr.  Archer,  of  Philadelphia,  again  entered  upon  mercantile  life,  at 
Canton,  in  China,  under  the  style  of  Wetmore  &  Co.  This  enterprise  was 
very  successful,  and  the  house  ere  long  acquired  a  high  standing  in  all  the 
business  circles  of  Europe  and  America.  By  his  integrity  and  courtesy, 
as  well  as  by  the  firm  stand  which  he  took  against  the  compulsory  intro- 
duction of  the  opium  trade,  Mr.  Wetmore  acquired  the  respect  of  the 
native  authorities.  In  1814,  the  firm  of  Wetmore  &  Cryder  was  established 
in  Xew  York.  Three  years  afterwards  Mr.  Wetmore  retired  finally  from 
business,  the  possessor  of  a  large  estate.  His  last  years  were  passed  at 
Xewport,  R.  I.,  where  he  had  erected  a  fine  house,  and  where  he  died. 

Though  Mr.  Wetmore  neither  held  nor  sought  office,  his  well-known 
intelligence  and  integrity  secured  for  him  the  confidence  and  friendship  of 
many  leading  public  men.    In  person  he  was  tall  and  commanding ;  in 


164: 


APPENDIX. 


his  management  of  business  lie  was  eminently  sagacious,  while  in  private 
life  he  was  hospitable  and  courteous,  kind  and  generous.  He  was  twice 
married,  and  left  children. 


IX.— STEPHEN  WHITNEY. 

Stephen  Whitney  was  born  in  Derby,  Connecticut,  September  14, 
1776,  and  died  at  his  residence  on  the  corner  of  Bowling-Green  and  State 
street,  New  York,  on  the  16th  of  February,  18G0. 

The  business  attractions  and  opportunities  of  New  York  early  drew 
him  to  that  great  mart,  where  he  started  in  life  with  no  other  advantages 
than  those  which  always  accompany  industry,  ability,  and  good  conduct. 
In  due  time  he  became  a  wholesale  grocer  on  Coenties  Slip,  and  had  a 
wide-extended  business.  At  the  breaking  out  of  hostilities  in  1812,  large 
sums  were  due  to  him  from  commercial  houses  in  the  Southern  States, 
and,  unfortunately,  they  were  in  no  condition  to  pay.  Cotton,  indeed,  they 
had  in  abundance.  But  of  what  use  was  cotton,  when  there  were  no 
longer  any  vessels  to  convey  it  over  the  ocean,  nor  any  ports  to  which  it 
could  be  sent?  But  Mr.  Whitney  thought  that  cotton,  however  cheap,  was 
better  than  nothing.  He  sent  agents  to  all  his  Southern  customers,  with 
instructions  to  take  cotton  where  they  could  not  get  cash,  and  the  merchants 
of  Georgia  and  Louisiana  were,  no  doubt,  delighted  at  being  let  off  so 
easily.  Having  thus  secured  a  very  large  amount  of  the  almost  worthless 
article,  Mr.  Whitney  sent  it  to  Amelia  Island,  then  under  Spanish  sway, 
and  from  this  place  it  was  shipped  to  Europe  in  neutral  vessels.  The 
returns  were  so  satisfactory  as  to  induce  repeated  investments  in  the  com- 
modity, all  of  which  took  the  same  course.  Thus  Mr.  Whitney,  who,  at 
the  beginning  of  that  short  contest,  was  almost  a  bankrupt,  found  himself 
wealthy  at  its  close. 

Mr.  Whitney  next  went  into  the  purchase  of  real  estate,  in  the  City  of 
New  York.  Here  he  showed  great  sagacity,  and,  through  the  rapid  rise  of 
values,  added  immensely  to  his  wealth.  He  engaged  in  the  China  trade  at 
the  time  when  it  was  most  profitable,  and  was  for  many  years  largely  con- 
cerned in  trade  with  Liverpool.  Of  the  Banks,  the  Railroad  Companies, 
etc.,  which  he  helped  to  found  and  to  manage,  it  is  needless  here  to  speak. 


LUTHER  BEADISH. 


165 


Five-and -twenty  years  before  he  died,  Mr.  Whitney  retired  from  active 
business,  but  still  found  ample  employment  in  the  care  and  management 
of  his  large  property. 

A  notice  of  Mr.  "Whitney,  which  appeared  soon  after  his  death,  in  the 
Journal  of  Commerce,  dwells  with  emphasis  on  the  coolness  and  clearness 
of  his  judgment,  the  sagacity  which  marked  all  his  actions,  and  the  strong 
tenacity  of  his  settled  purpose.  He  is  represented  as  genial  in  feeling  and 
in  manners,  and  as  agreeably  instructive  in  his  conversation.  Although 
"not  conspicuously  liberal  to  objects  wholly  benevolent,''  etc.,  "his  chari- 
ties were  dispensed  with  system,  and  studiously  without  show." 

One  who  knew  Mi*.  Whitney  well,  describes  him  as  "  a  short,  spare  man 
— remarkably  vigorous  in  mind  and  body,  down  to  the  minute  of  his  death  ; 
scrupulously  neat  and  unpretending  in  his  dress  ;  courteous  and  modest  in 
his  manner — devotedly  attached  to  church,  home,  and  family." 

His  estate  was  estimated  at  twelve  millions. 


X.— LUTHER  BRADISH. 

Me.  Beadish  was  born  1783,  at  Cummington,  Massachusetts,  and 
graduated  at  Williams  College  in  1804.  In  due  time  he  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  in  the  City  of  New  York,  and  soon  after  left  the  country  on  a 
visit  to  the  West  Indies  and  South  America,  whence  he  sailed  to  England. 
He  returned  to  New  York  just  before  the  war  of  1812,  and,  during  that 
contest,  served  his  country  as  a  volunteer,  nis  wife,  a  daughter  of  George 
Gibbs,  of  Newport,  died  181G,  in  the  second  year  of  her  married  life.  In 
1820,  Mr.  Bradish  again  left  home  for  an  extended  foreign  tour.  His 
object,  at  this  time,  was  "to  make  himself  acquainted,  from  personal 
observation,  with  the  countries  and  commerce  of  the  Levant,"  and  also  to 
collect,  and  communicate  to  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  infor- 
mation auxiliary  to  the  establishment  of  treaty  relations  with  the  Turkish 
Government.  To  this  extent,  at  least,  his  mission  was  official  and  national. 
He  sailed  for  the  Mediterranean  with  Commodore  Bainbridge,  in  the 
Columbus,  and,  having  made  the  circuit  of  that  famous  sea  in  the  national 
ship,  repaired  to  Constantinople.  As  the  result  of  his  visit  there,  he  was 
enabled  to  send  dispatches  home,  which  prepared  and  opened  the  way  for 

that  treaty  with  the  Sultan  which  was  made  not  long  afterwards. 
23 


106 


APPENDIX. 


Having  accomplished  successfully  this  part  of  his  mission,  he  devoted 
the  next  five  years  to  travel.  After  exploring  Egypt  and  Syria,  he  passed 
into  Europe,  visiting  every  country  on  the  continent  except  Spain,  and  all 
the  great  cities,  from  Naples  to  Moscow.  The  facility  with  which  he  spoke 
several  European  languages,  and  even  the  Arabic,  must  have  added  greatly 
to  the  pleasure  and  the  profit  of  that  long  journey,  and  of  those  pleasant 
sojourns. 

Soon  after  his  return,  Mr.  Bradish  was  sent  to  the  State  Assembly 
from  Franklin  County.  He  had  been  for  seven  years  a  member,  when,  in 
1838,  he  was  chosen  Speaker  of  that  body.  Then  for  two  years  he  was 
Lieutenant-Governor.  In  1842  he  was  the  Whig  candidate  for  Governor, 
but  failed  to  come  in. 

Here  ended  his  political  career.  From  that  time  he  withdrew  from  the 
exciting  and  troubled  arena  of  party  politics,  and  held  no  public  office, 
excepting  the  place  of  Assistant  Treasurer  at  Xew  York,  which  he  occu- 
pied for  a  short  time  under  President  Fillmore. 

But  if  Mr.  Bradish  ceased  to  be  an  active  politician,  he  was  none  the 
less,  nay,  all  the  more,  a  good  citizen  and  a  devoted  philanthropist.  For 
more  than  twenty  years  he  was  a  conspicuous  and  earnest  actor  in  not  a 
few  of  the  great  enterprises,  charitable  and  religious,  which  have  marked 
the  period.  Self-possessed,  dignified,  urbane, — familiar  with  the  routine 
and  details  of  business, — he  was  admirably  qualified  as  a  presiding  officer, 
and  his  abilities  in  that  line  were  kept  in  constant  exercise.  When  Albert 
Gallatin  died,  Mr.  Bradish  was  his  successor  as  President  of  the  New  York 
Historical  Society.  Still  later,  he  succeeded  Theodore  Frelinghuysen  in 
the  Presidency  of  the  American  Bible  Society,  retaining  both  offices  until 
he  died.  Though  holding  positions  of  responsibility  and  trust  in  numerous 
important  institutions,  he  found  the  heart  and  the  time  to  be  active  and 
useful  in  them  all.  Xo  Trustee  of  Green-Wood  was  more  punctual  or 
faithful  than  Governor  Bradish, — no  one  more  ready  or  more  competent 
to  aid  his  colleagues  with  the  fruits  of  a  ripe  experience  and  excellent 
judgment. 

By  his  second  wife,  Mary  Eliza  Hart,  Mr.  Bradish  had  one  daughter. 


ACT  OF  INCORPORATION. 


1G7 


|)art  ©Ijirir. 


I.— MEMORIAL  TO  THE  LEGISLATURE,  AND  ACT  OF 
INCORPORATION. 

Memorial  to  the  Legislature,  Submitted  January,  1838. 

To  the  Honorable,  the  Legislature  of  the  State  of  New  Yorlc: 

Tile  Memorial  of  the  undersigned,  inhabitants  of  New  York  and 
Brooklyn,  respectfully  shoAveth  : 

That  in  the  rapid  extension  of  these  cities,  and  among  all  the  various 
improvements  which  of  late  years  have  been  introduced  therein,  both  as 
to  matters  of  taste,  and  with  a  view  to  the  more  substantial  considerations 
of  health  and  comfort,  no  adequate  provision  has  yet  been  made  for  an 
object  of  paramount  importance  in  both  respects — the  burial  of  the 
dead. 

Boston,  Philadelphia,  and  some  other  cities  of  our  country,  emulating 
the  taste  of  the  celebrated  Pere  la  Chaise,  have  had  for  some  time  one 
or  more  spacious  precincts  set  apart  and  properly  arranged  for  this  pur- 
pose; Mount  Auburn  at  the  former  place,  and  Laurel  Hill  and  the  Monu- 
ment Cemetery  at  the  latter,  are  already  flourishing  Institutions,  which, 
while  they  set  forth  the  memory  of  the  departed  dead,  are  equally  honor- 
able to  the  pious  benevolence  and  philanthropy  of  the  living. 

New  York  and  Brooklyn,  with  a  population  of  more  than  three  hun- 
dred thousand  inhabitants,  singular  as  it  may  seem,  have  no  corresponding 
arrangement,  nor  indeed  any  provision  of  any  kind,  adapted  to  the  wants 
of  this  great  and  rapidly  increasing  community. 

In  an  early  state  of  these  cities,  while  the  population  was  yet  small, 
and  no  expectation  entertained  of  such  an  increase  as  has  since  been  real- 
ized, the  grave-yards  attached  to  the  different  churches  were  deemed 


168 


APPENDIX. 


abundantly  sufficient ;  many  of  these,  however,  had  become  crowded  to 
an  inconvenient  degree,  when  they  were  closed  by  the  Municipal  authority 
of  the  city,  from  considerations  of  health,  and  other  situations  chosen  in 
lieu  of  them,  beyond  the  (then  existing)  limits  of  the  dense  population. 
But  in  process  of  time,  and  after  the  lapse  of  a  very  few  years,  these  also 
have  been  overtaken  by  the  increment  of  population,  and  are  now  in  their 
turn  surrounded  and  hemmed  in  by  the  encroachment  of  buildings  ;  so  that 
at  no  distant  time  a  new  change  will  become  necessary,  and  the  desecra- 
tion of  the  present  grounds  follows  almost  as  a  matter  of  course.  In  the 
mean  time  the  whole  island  has  been  laid  out,  and  is  everywhere  rapidly 
improving  without  reference  to  this  object,  and  there  seems  now  no  reason 
to  expect  that  a  situation  suitable  in  point  of  soil,  and  of  sufficient  extent 
for  a  permanent  arrangement,  could  be  obtained  in  any  part  of  it;  and 
such  is  the  apprehension  on  this  subject,  that  many  of  our  citizens  send 
the  bodies  of  their  deceased  friends  to  remote  country  places  in  Is  ew  York 
and  yew  England  for  sepulture ;  and  several  have  taken  lots  in  the  ceme- 
tery at  Mount  Auburn. 

Your  memorialists  have  therefore  been  induced  to  look  to  the  vicinity 
of  Brooklyn  as  the  only  place,  within  a  moderate  distance  of  both  cities, 
where  such  a  design  could  be  carried  out,  upon  a  scale  commensurate  with 
its  importance,  and  with  the  assurance  of  its  being  preserved,  for  any 
length  of  time,  inviolate. 

They  urge  the  subject  the  more  especially  upon  the  attention  of  your 
honorable  bodies,  as  it  is  understood  that  the  city  of  Brooklyn  is  now  also 
in  the  hands  of  Commissioners,  about  to  be  laid  out  under  a  law  of  the 
State  ;  that  this  laying  out  is  already  nearly  completed,  and  will  be  entirely 
matured  and  recorded  in  the  course  of  the  ensuing  season ;  and  if  so  com- 
pleted without  reference  to  the  objects  which  your  memorialists  have  in 
view,  it  will  be  very  difficult  if  not  impossible  ever  to  accomplish  them 
hereafter. 

With  these  sentiments,  your  memorialists  respectfully  offer  for  the 
consideration  of  your  honorable  body  the  annexed  bill,  containing  the 
smallest  amount  of  corporate  power,  witli  the  other  provisions  necessary 
for  carrying  out  the  objects  contemplated. 

And  as  in  duty  boimd  will  ever  pray,  &c. 


ACT  OF  INCOKPOEATIOX. 


169 


Act  of  Ixcoepoeatiox,  Passed  Apeil  18,  1838. 

[Repealed,  as  far  as  regards  the  Joint  Stock  principle,  by  Act  of  April  11,  1S39.] 

The  Peojjle  of  the  State  of  Xew  York,  represented  in  Senate  and  Assembly, 
do  enact  as  follows : 

Section  1.  All  persons  who  shall  become  stockholders  pursuant  to 
this  act,  are  hereby  constituted  a  body  corporate,  by  the  name  of  "  The 
Green-Wood  Cemetery,"  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  public  burial- 
ground  in  the  City  of  Brooklyn. 

Sec.  2.  The  capital  stock  of  the  said  corporation  shall  be  three  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars,  which  shall  be  divided  into  shares  of  one  hundred 
dollars  each,  and  shall  be  deemed  personal  property,  and  be  transferable 
on  the  books  of  the  corporation,  in  such  manner  as  the  said  corporation 
shall  by  its  by-laws  direct. 

Sec.  3.  The  said  corporation  may,  by  and  with  the  consent  of  the  Mayor 
and  Common  Council  of  the  City  of  Brooklyn  first  had  and  obtained, 
acquire,  take,  and  hold  a  lot  or  tract  of  land  within  the  City  of  Brooklyn, 
not  exceeding  two  hundred  acres,  and  may  sell  or  otherwise  dispose  of 
such  land,  to  be  used  exclusively  as  a  cemetery,  or  a  place  for  the  burial 
of  the  dead  ;  but  all  moneys  received  for  or  on  account  of  the  said  capital 
stock,  shall  be  first  applied  by  the  said  corporation  to  the  payment  of  the 
purchase-money  of  the  land  acquired  by  the  said  corporation,  and  the 
residue  thereof,  together  with  at  least  one-half  the  moneys  obtained  for 
such  sales  of  the  said  lots  or  plots,  shall  be  applied  to  improving  or  em- 
bellishing such  land  as  a  cemetery  or  burial-ground. 

Sec.  4.  The  commissioners  appointed  under  and  by  virtue  of  an  Act 
entitled  "  An  Act  authorizing  the  appointment  of  commissioners  to  lay  out 
streets,  avenues,  and  squares  in  the  City  of  Brooklyn,"  passed  April  23, 
1835,  are  hereby  authorized  to  designate  on  the  map  of  the  said  city,  in 
and  by  the  said  act  directed  to  be  made  and  filed  by  said  commissioners, 
the  lot  or  tract  of  land  so  acquired  by  the  said  corporation,  and  to  termi- 
nate any  or  all  of  the  streets  or  avenues  at  the  outer  boundaries  thereof. 

Sec.  5.  The  real  estate  of  the  said  corporation,  and  the  said  lots  or 
plots,  when  conveyed  by  said  corporation  to  individual  proprietors,  shall 
be  exempt  from  assessment,  and  not  liable  to  be  sold  on  execution,  or  to 
be  applied  to  the  payment  of  debts  by  assignment  under  any  insolvent- 
law. 

Sec.  6.  Samuel  Ward,  John  P.  Stagg,  Charles  King,  D.  B.  Douglass, 


170 


APPEXDIX. 


Russell  Stebbins,  Joseph  A.  Perry,  Henry  E.  Pierrepont,  and  Pliny  Free- 
man, shall  be  commissioners  to  receive  subscriptions  for  the  said  capital 
stock.  They  shall  appoint  a  day  and  place  in  the  cities  of  New  York  and 
Brooklyn,  or  either,  to  receive  the  same.  They  shall  prescribe  the  form 
and  rules  of  said  subscriptions,  and  cause  at  least  fifteen  days'  notice 
thereof  to  be  given  in  one  or  more  of  the  newspapers  printed  in  the  said 
cities  respectively,  and  at  such  time  and  place  receive  subscriptions  there- 
for. And  also,  in  case  more  than  the  whole  amount  is  subscribed,  they 
shall  have  power  to  apportion  the  stock  as  they  think  proper  among  the 
said  subscribers.  And  also,  in  case  the  whole  stock  is  not  then  subscribed, 
to  receive  subscriptions  therefor,  until  the  whole  is  taken;  and  when 
thirty  thousand  dollars  of  said  capital  stock  shall  have  been  paid  in,  said 
commissioners  shall  give  a  like  notice  for  a  meeting  of  the  stockholders, 
at  such  time  and  place  as  the  said  commissioners  shall  appoint,  to  choose 
from  among  the  said  stockholders  fifteen  directors.  And  such  election 
shall  be  then  and  there  made  by  such  stockholders  as  shall  attend  for  that 
purpose,  either  in  person  or  by  lawful  proxy,  each  share  of  the  capital 
stock  entitling  a  stockholder  to  one  vote.  And  the  said  commissioners,  or 
any  three  of  them,  shall  be  inspectors  of  the  first  election  of  directors  of  the 
said  corporation,  and  shall  certify  under  their  hands  the  names  of  those  duly 
elected,  and  deliver  over  the  subscription-books,  moneys,  and  property  of 
the  said  corporation  to  the  said  directors.  The  directors  first  chosen  shall 
fix  upon  the  time  and  place  of  holding  the  first  meeting  of  the  directors. 
A  new  election  of  directors,  being  stockholders,  shall  be  made  annually, 
at  such  time  and  place  as  the  board  of  directors  shall  appoint. 

Sec.  7.  It  shall  be  lawful  for  the  directors,  or  a  majority  of  them,  to 
require  payments  of  the  sums  to  be  subscribed  to  the  capital  stock,  at 
such  times,  and  in  such  payments,  and  on  such  conditions  as  they,  or  a 
majority  of  them,  shall  deem  fit,  under  the  penalty  of  the  forfeiture  of  all 
previous  payments  thereon ;  and  shall  give  notice  of  the  payments  thus 
required,  and  of  the  place  and  time  when  the  same  are  to  be  paid,  at  least 
thirty  days  previous  to  the  payment  of  the  same,  in  at  least  two  public 
newspapers,  one  published  in  the  said  City  of  New  York,  and  one  in  the 
said  City  of  Brooklyn. 

Sec.  8.  The  said  corporation  shall  possess  the  powers,  and  be  subject 
to  the  provisions,  contained  in  chapter  18th  of  the  first  part  of  the  Revised 
Statutes. 

Seo.  9.  This  act  shall  take  effect  immediately. 


MEMORIAL  TO  THE  COMMON  COUNCIL. 


171 


IL— ACTION  OF  THE  COMMON  COUNCIL  OF  THE  CITY  OF 

BROOKLYN. 

To  the  Honorable,  the  Mayor  and  Common  Council  of  the  City  of 

Brooklyn : 

The  memorial  of  the  undersigned,  citizens  of  New  York  and  Brooklyn, 
respectfully  showeth : 

That  at  the  late  session  of  the  Legislature  of  this  State,  an  Act  was 
passed  incorporating  a  certain  Company  by  the  name  of  "The  Green- 
Wood  Cemetery,"  with  power  to  purchase,  "  with  the  consent  of  the 
Common  Council  of  Brooklyn  first  had  and  obtained,"  a  tract  of  two 
hundred  acres  of  land  in  said  city,  and  to  lay  out,  improve,  and  embellish 
the  same  in  a  permanent  and  tasteful  manner,  as  a  Rural  Burying- 
Ground. 

And  your  Memorialists  further  represent,  that  Samuel  Ward,  Russell 
Stebbins,  Jno.  P.  Stagg,  Charles  King,  A.  G.  Hammond,  and  others,  with 
the  undersigned,  are  Commissioners  for  organizing  said  Company;  and 
that,  since  the  passage  of  the  Act,  certain  of  their  number,  unconnected 
with  any  local  interests,  have  been  engaged  in  exploring  the  outer  wards 
of  the  city,  with  a  view  to  determine  the  most  fit  and  proper  location  for 
the  said  Cemetery.  That  after  the  most  mature  and  careful  examination, 
it  is  reported — and  in  this  report  the  undersigned  fully  concur — that  a 
location  of  extraordinary  beauty  and  capability,  and  in  their  opinion 
superior  to  any  other  within  the  city  bounds,  may  be  found  on  the 
summits  of  the  Gowanus  Hills,  in  the  eighth  Ward  of  the  city,  within  a 
district  bordering  upon  the  city  line,  and  limited  on  other  sides  as  follows, 
that  is  to  say :  northerly  by  eighteenth  street,  southerly  by  thirty-fourth 
street,  and  westerly  by  a  line  midway  between  the  fifth  and  sixth 
Avenues. 

The  views  by  which  your  Memorialists  have  been  induced  to  act  in 
this  matter,  and  which  they  respectfully  beg  leave  to  urge  upon  the  atten- 
tion of  your  honorable  bodies,  may  be  stated  as  follows,  viz. :  In  the  two 
great  communities  of  New  York  and  Brooklyn,  comprising  at  this  time  a 
population  of  at  least  three  hundred  thousand  inhabitants,  no  adequate 
provision  has  yet  been  made,  in  the  local  arrangements  of  either  place, 


172 


APPENDIX. 


for  the  burial  of  the  dead.  The  whole  island  of  New  York  has  been  laid 
out  without  reference  to  it,  and  the  ancient  burial-places  of  that  city, 
however  appropriate  they  may  have  been  at  the  time  of  their  locatiou, 
would  now  be  wholly  inadequate,  even  if  they  had  not  been  closed,  as  a 
measure  of  health  police,  by  the  authority  of  the  city ;  while  those  more 
recently  chosen,  in  situations  comparatively  remote,  are  already  overtaken 
and  hemmed  in  by  the  dense  population,  and  must  soon  become  in  like 
manner  either  insufficient  or  unavailable. 

These  remarks  will  undoubtedly  apply  to  the  older  burying-grounds  in 
the  City  of  Brooklyn ;  and  such  is  the  uncertainty  in  the  minds  of  a  large 
portion  of  our  community,  that  the  remains  of  deceased  friends  are 
constantly  being  sent,  at  great  cost  and  inconvenience,  to  remote  places 
in  the  country  ;  and  several  of  our  citizens  have  even  purchased  lots  in  the 
Cemetery  of  Mount  Auburn. 

The  evil  has  become  one  of  great  and  urgent  solicitude,  inasmuch  as 
there  are  estimated  to  be  not  less  than  eight  or  ten  thousand  families  in 
New  York  and  Brooklyn  who  are  either  unprovided,  or  very  imperfectly 
provided,  with  any  safe  and  appropriate  place  for  the  disposal  of  their 
dead ;  and  this  number  is  said  to  be  daily  increasing. 

Your  honors  will  not  fail  to  perceive  that  this  circumstance  must 
greatly  impede  the  formation  of  local  attachments  and  local  interests. 
No  tie  is  more  strong  than  that  by  which  the  hearts  of  men  are  bound  to 
the  burial-places  of  their  departed  friends,  and  it  is  the  part  of  patriotism 
therefore,  as  well  as  of  humanity,  to  make  liberal  provision  for  this 
imperative  want,  in  a  place  where  nearly  nine  thousand  burials  take 
place  per  annum. 

Other  cities  have  been  more  attentive  to  this  consideration :  Boston 
is  justly  proud  of  its  Mount  Auburn ;  Philadelphia  not  less  so  of  its 
Laurel  Hill ;  Baltimore  has  recently  laid  out  a  princely  domain  for  the 
same  purpose ;  and  who  has  not  heard  of  the  celebrated  Cemetery  of  Pere 

la  Chaise  f 

Your  Memorialists  believe  that  the  location  to  which  they  have  re- 
ferred, in  the  variety  and  beauty  of  its  picturesque  scenery,  and  in  its 
capabilities  for  picturesque  improvement,  is  at  least  equal,  if  not  superior, 
to  any  spot,  similarly  appropriated,  in  the  world ;  and  they  doubt  not,  if  it 
should  be  set  apart  and  properly  improved  for  this  purpose,  it  will  soon 
become  one  of  the  most  interesting  objects  of  taste  and  feeling  in  this 
vicinity. 


EEPOET  OF  COMMI5SIONEES. 


173 


With  these  sentiments,  they  respectfully  move  your  honors  to  give  the 
consent  of  the  Common  Council,  as  required  hy  the  Act. 
And  as  in  duty  bound,  &c,  &c. 

D.  B.  Douglass, 
IT.  E.  Pieeeepoxt, 
R.  Stebbixs. 

Beooexyx,  Gth  of  August,  1838. 


Extract  from  the  Minutes  of  the  Common  Council  of  Brooklyn,  meeting 
August  Gth,  1838 — certified  ly  Theodore  Eames,  Cleric. 

"  The  petition  of  D.  B.  Douglass  and  others,  Commissioners  of  the 
Green- Wood  Cemetery,  for  the  consent  of  the  Common  Council  to  locate 
their  Cemetery,  was  presented  and  read  by  Alderman  Perry.  After  some 
deliberation  on  the  subject,  the  following  resolution  was  offered  by 
Alderman  Perry,  viz.  :  Resolved,  That  the  prayer  of  the  Memorialists  be 
granted ;  and  that  the  Commissioners  of  the  Green-Wood  Cemetery  be 
hereby  authorized  to  purchase  and  lay  out,  for  the  purposes  of  a  Cemetery, 
the  ground  required  for  such  purposes,  not  exceeding  two  hundred  acres, 
within  the  limits  designated  in  the  memorial.  On  motion,  it  was  voted, 
that  the  above  resolution  be  adopted,  and  that  the  memorial,  and  the 
resolution  appended,  be  printed  at  the  expense  of  the  Common  Council." 


III.—  REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSIONERS. 

Extract  from  the  official  Report  of  the  Commissioners  for  laying  out  the 
City  of  Brooklyn,  under  an  Act  'passed  twenty-third  of  April,  1835. 
Geeex-Wood  Cemetery  is  laid  out  in  compliance  with  a  law  passed  at 
the  last  session  of  the  Legislature  of  this  State,  incorporating  the  Green- 
Wood  Cemetery  Company,  and  is  bounded  as  follows  :  Beginning  at  the 
intersection  of  twenty-first  street  and  the  tenth  Avenue,  at  the  south- 
westerly corner  of  the  same ;  thence  running  westerly,  along  the  south 
side  of  twenty -first  street,  to  a  point  one  hundred  feet  west  of  the  seventh 
Avenue  ;  thence  southerly,  in  a  line  parallel  to  the  seventh  Avenue,  to  a 
point  one  hundred  feet  southerly  of  twenty-third  street ;  thence  westerly, 
in  a  line  parallel  to  twenty-third  street,  to  a  point  three  hundred  feet 
westerly  of  the  seventh  Avenue ;  thence  southerly,  in  a  line  parallel  to 
21 


174: 


APPEXDIX. 


the  seventh  Avenue,  to  the  westerly  side  of  twenty-fifth  street ;  thence 
westerly,  along  the  southerly  side  of  twenty-fifth  street,  to  a  point  mid- 
way between  the  fifth  and  sixth  Avenues ;  thence  southerly,  in  a  line 
parallel  to  those  Avenues,  to  a  point  one  hundred  feet  southerly  of 
thirty-third  street ;  thence  parallel  to  thirty-third  street,  easterly  to 
seventh  Avenue  ;  thence  northerly,  along  the  westerly  side  of  the  seventh 
Avenue,  two  hundred  and  sixty  feet,  to  a  point  midway  between  thirty- 
second  and  thirty-third  streets ;  thence  easterly,  on  a  line  parallel  to  those 
streets,  to  the  boundary  of  the  city;  thence  along  said  city  boundary 
northerly,  to  the  tenth  Avenue  ;  and  thence  along  the  westerly  side  of 
the  tenth  Avenue,  to  the  place  of  beginning.  And  all  streets  and 
Avenues  which  have  been  described  as  running  through  the  above 
ground  are  to  terminate  at  its  line,  with  the  exception  of  Hammond 
Avenue. 

He     ,     $  .  ~    i|s  &      .    *  tfi      ,  .  3?<  .  •  *     _     #  jfc  $ 

(Signed)  "A.  G.  Hammond, 


"S.  Cheevec,        y  _       .  .  , 
T  rp  i  Commissioners. 

"J.  Tiff  ax  r,  ) 


IV.— THE  APPRAISEMENT. 

The  appraisement  is  dated  September  24,  1S38,  and  is  signed  by  D.  B. 
Douglass,  A.  G.  Hammond,  C.  P.  Smith,  and  H.  E.  Pierrepont,  appraisers. 


Schermerhorn  Farm  

.  .So  acres,  or  1022  lots,  at  $030  per  acre  

 $55,250  00 

Sackett  Farm,  about . .  , 

34  " 

405   "  725 

24.G44  00 

23  ■ 

2S0   »  900 

21,217  00 

lbbotson  Farm,  about. 

32  li 

893   ■*         975  u 

31.314  50 

Wyckoff  Farm,  about.. 

..4  " 

45   "  COO 

2.250  00 

Total  

..ITS  acres; 

average  ..  .$75G  CO  per  acre  

. . .  $134,075  50 

The  owners  of  182GA-  lots  signed  the  appraisement.  There  were  318,} 
lots  on  the  Dean  and  lbbotson  Farms  whose  owners,  numbering  about 
twenty,  refused  to  sign. 


V.— LAND-OWNERS'  AGREEMENT. 


Wiieeeas  a  Company,  called  the  Green-Wood  Cemetery  Company,  was 
incorporated  by  an  Act  of  the  late  Legislature  of  this  State,  for  the  pur- 


LAND-OWNERS'  AGREEMENT. 


175 


pose  of  laying  out  and  embellishing  a  rural  burying-ground  in  the  City  of 
Brooklyn,  upon  the  principle  of  the  Mount  Auburn  Cemetery  in  Boston — 
in  which  Act  of  incorporation  David  B.  Douglass  and  Henry  E.  Pierre- 
pont  are  named,  among  others,  as  two  of  the  commissioners  for  issuing  the 
stock ;  and  whereas  it  is  in  contemplation  to  locate  the  said  Cemetery  on 
the  Gowanus  Hills,  in  the  8th  Ward  of  the  city,  in  such  manner  as  to  em- 
brace certain  parts  of  the  farms  following,  to  wit :  the  Wyckoff  Farm,  the 
Sackett  Farm,  the  Ibbotson  Farm,  the  Dean  Farm,  the  Schermerhorn 
Farm,  and  the  Bergen  Farm  :  Xow,  therefore,  we  the  undersigned,  owners 
of  property  on  the  said  farms,  within  the  limits  so  contemplated,  with  a 
view  to  promote  the  object  of  the  said  Corporation,  and  in  consideration 
of  the  sum  of  one  dollar,  the  receipt  of  which  is  hereby,  on  the  part  of 
each  one  of  us,  individually  acknowledged,  and  upon  the  terms  and  con- 
ditions hereinafter  specified,  do  severally  covenant  and  agree  with  the 
said  D.  B.  Douglass  and  Hy.  E.  Pierrepont  as  follows,  viz.  : 

Article  1st.  Each  of  us,  for  himself  individually,  agrees  to  convey  to 
the  said  D.  B.  Douglass  and  Hy.  E.  Pierrepont,  or  under  their  direction, 
to  the  Cemetery  Company,  whenever  the  same  shall  be  organized,  so  much 
of  our  respective  premises  as  may  be  embraced  within  the  bounds  of  the 
said  location,  and  to  take  stock  of  said  Company  in  payment  therefor, 
the  nominal  value  of  the  premises  so  embraced,  and  the  quota  of  the  stock 
to  be  received  for  the  same,  to  be  determined  according  to  the  mode 
specified  in  the  article  next  following;  and,  when  so  determined,  we  also 
bind  ourselves  to  be  present,  in  person  or  by  proxy,  at  the  time  and  place 
which  may  be  appointed  by  the  Commissioners  for  issuing  the  stock,  and 
to  subscribe  for  the  same;  provided  always,  that  no  instalments  in  cash  are 
ever  to  be  required  of  us  in  addition  to  the  premises  conveyed. 

Article  2d.  The  value  of  the  several  premises  shall  be  determined 
according  to  a  general  average;  such,  that  the  cost  of  two  hundred  acres 
shall  be  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  ;  and  Messrs.  A.  G.  Ham- 
mond, D.  B.  Douglass,  Cyrus  P.  Smith,  and  H.  E.  Pierrepont,  are  hereby 
nominated  and  appointed  a  Committee  on  our  behalf,  with  full  power  to 
adjust  the  relative  value  of  our  respective  premises  according  to  said 
average,  and  to  determine  the  quota  of  stock  to  be  subscribed  and  received 
therefor,  subject  only  to  the  apportioning  power  vested  by  the  act  of  in- 
corporation in  the  Commissioners  for  issuing  stock. 

Article  3d.  And  whereas  there  are  mortgages  existing  on  certain  of  the 
premises  referred  to,  we  do  further  covenant  and  agree  with  the  said  Doug- 


176 


APPENDIX. 


lass  and  Pierrepont,  in  as  far  as  we  are  severally  parties  to  said  mortgages, 
and  in  case  the  mortgagees  shall  not  consent  to  take  stock  in  full  payment 
therefor,  that  we  will,  at  the  option  of  said  Douglass  and  Pierrepont,  assign 
said  stock  as  collateral  security,  in  lieu  of  said  mortgages,  and  will  duly 
execute  and  deliver  bonds  of  indemnity  for  the  principal  and  interest  due 
thereon,  to  the  end  that  the  premises  referred  to  may  be  released  from  all 
encumbrances  whatever. 

"Witness  our  hands  and  seals  (each  one  of  us  for  himself  individually),  at 
Brooklyn,  L.  L,  June  28th,  1838. 

Signed  and  sealed  by  the  parties  of  / 
the  first  part,  in  presence  of  C 


VI.— MEMORIAL  TO  THE  LEGISLATURE,  AND  AMENDED 
ACT  OF  INCORPORATION. 

To  the  Honorable,  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  State  of 

N~ew  York: 

The  Memorial  of  the  undersigned,  a  Committee  of  the  Directors  of  the 
Green- Wood  Cemetery  Company,  and  in  behalf  of  said  Company,  respect- 
fully showeth  : 

That  in  pursuance  of  a  law  passed  at  the  last  session  of  the  Legislature, 
to  wit:  on  the  18th  day  of  April,  1838,  a  Joint  Stock  Company  has  been 
formed  and  organized,  under  the  above  title,  for  the  purpose  of  laying  out 
and  constructing,  on  the  most  approved  plan,  a  Rural  Cemetery  in  the 
City  of  Brooklyn.  That  after  mature  deliberation,  and  with  the  consent 
of  the  Common  Council,  duly  obtained,  its  location  has  been  fixed,  and  a 
tract  of  two  hundred  acres  of  land  secured,  in  a  very  eligible  situation  in 
the  eighth  ward  of  said  city,  the  boundaries  of  which  have  been  designated 
on  the  city  map,  under  the  authority  of  the  commissioners;  and  measures 
are  already  in  progress  for  improving  and  embellishing  it,  in  conformity 
with  the  design  and  purpose  for  which  the  company  was  incorporated. 

In  the  progress  of  these  incipient  steps,  however,  and  with  a  view  to 
the  complete  success  of  an  undertaking  in  which  one  of  the  highest  inter- 
ests of  humanity  is  intended  to  be  subserved,  the  undersigned  have  be- 


MEMORIAL  TO  THE  LEGISLATURE. 


177 


come  aware  of  the  importance  of  certain  legal  provisions  which  were  not 
contemplated  in  the  original  act  of  incorporation,  and  which  they  now 
beg  leave  most  respectfully  to  submit  to  the  consideration  of  the  Honor- 
able, the  Legislature. 

In  the  first  place,  the  principle  of  a  Joint  Stock  Company,  involving,  as 
it  necessarily  does,  the  idea  of  private  and  individual  profit,  and,  in  the 
present  instance,  the  conflicting  interests  of  lot-holders  and  stockholders 
in  the  premises,  appears  not  in  harmony  with  an  undertaking  which,  in 
its  nature  and  aim,  is  eminently  and  essentially  philanthropic.  Your  me- 
morialists were  not  wholly  unaware  of  this  consideration  in  drawing  up 
their  original  act,  but  they  were  also  under  an  impression  that  their  object 
could  not  be  accomplished  in  any  other  way.  This  they  have  since  dis- 
covered to  be  an  error;  and  as  the  stockholders  are  willing  to  relinquish 
their  stock  upon  equitable  principles,  the  undersigned,  in  behalf  of  the 
Board  of  Directors,  respectfully  ask  leave  to  receive  and  cancel  it,  and  to 
manage  the  concern  thenceforth  as  an  Incorporated  Trust.  The  conflicting 
interests  alluded  to  will  thus  be  done  away,  the  undertaking  in  all 
respects  placed  upon  a  more  proper  footing,  and  the  unqualified  confidence 
of  the  community  insured  to  an  institution,  from  which  even  the  appear- 
ance of  individual  profit  is  entirely  excluded. 

In  moving  this  amendment,  your  memorialists  are  also  instructed  to 
request  that  your  Honorable  Bodies  will  be  pleased  to  confer  such  addi- 
tional powers  for  the  preservation  of  the  grounds,  and  for  the  protection 
of  the  tombs,  monuments,  graves,  and  shrubbery  therein,  as  have  been  found 
necessary  in  other  similar  undertakings  elsewhere.  And,  finally,  as  the 
Cemetery,  under  these  several  provisions,  will  become  purely  and  exclu- 
sively a  benevolent  institution,  and  as  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  that 
the  public  mind  should  be  assured  of  the  inviolability  of  the  premises  in 
every  possible  event,  even  against  legal  process,  we  trust  your  Honors  will 
perceive  the  reasonableness  of  exempting  them  from  taxation. 

In  presenting  these  several  points  to  the  attention  of  an  enlightened 
Legislature,  your  memorialists  cannot  feel  it  necessary  to  accompany  them 
with  any  new  arguments,  of  a  general  nature,  on  the  subject  to  which  they 
relate.  In  all  ages,  and  in  every  country,  even  barbarous  tribes  acknowl- 
edge, by  elaborate  funeral  rites,  and  in  many  other  ways,  the  duty  of  the 
living  to  honor  and  protect  the  remains  and  memory  of  the  dead.  In  the 
City  of  isew  York,  the  performance  of  this  duty  has  been  attended  with 
peculiar  difficulties;  extraordinary  means  are  necessary, — Legislative  aid, 


178 


APPENDIX. 


therefore,  indispensable, — and  in  seeking  that  aid,  respectfully,  at  the 
hands  of  your  Honorable  Bodies,  the  undersigned  entertain  no  fear  that 
their  application  will  be  unheeded. 
And  as  in  duty  bound,  &c,  &c. 

D.  B.  Douglass, 
Hexey  E.  Pieeeepoxt, 

And  others,  Committee. 


Extract  from  the  Minutes  of  the  Common  Council  of  Brooklyn, — Meeting 
March  11th,  1839. 

The  subject  of  the  Green-Wood  Cemetery  was  brought  forward  by  hi9 
Honor  the  Mayor,  who  stated  that  the  bill  now  before  the  Legislature  of 
this  State,  for  the  incorporation  of  that  association,  contained  a  provision 
exempting  the  Cemetery  from  taxation,  and  that  our  representatives  in 
the  Legislature  wished  for  an  expression  of  the  views  and  wishes  of  the 
Common  Council  on  that  subject. 

After  full  consideration,  Alderman  Underbill  offered  the  following  reso- 
lution, which,  on  motion,  was  adopted  by  a  vote  of  the  Board,  viz. : 

"  Resohed,  That  the  tract  of  land  known  by  the  name  of  the  Green- Wood 
Cemetery,  in  the  opinion  of  this  Common  Council,  should  be  exempted 
from  taxation,  so  long  as  it  is  used  as  a  place  of  burial." 

I  hereby  certify  that  the  foregoing  extract,  included  within  the  marks  of 
quotation,  is  copied  from  the  Minutes  of  the  Common  Council  of  the  City 
of  Brooklyn.  Titeodoee  Eames,  Clerl: 

Amextotexts  to  CnAETEE,  passed  Apeil  11,  1839. 

The  People  of  the  State  of  Xew  York,  represented  in  Senate  and  Assembly, 
do  enact  as  follows  : 

Section  1.  It  shall  be  lawful  for  the  Stockholders  of  the  said  "  The 
Green-Wood  Cemetery,"  to  surrender  and  extinguish  their  stock  in  such 
manner  as  the  Board  of  Directors  shall  prescribe  ;  and  all  persons  who 
are  and  hereafter  shall  become  proprietors  of  lots  or  parcels  of  ground 
conveyed  to  them  by  the  said  Corporation,  shall  become  members  of  the 
said  body  corporate. 

Sec.  2.  The  estate,  property,  and  affairs  of  the  said  Corporation  shall 
be  managed  by  fifteen  Trustees,  a  majority  of  whom  shall  constitute  a 


AMENDMENTS  TO  CHARTER. 


179 


quorum  capable  of  doing  business.  The  persons  now  constituting  the  Board 
of  Directors  shall  be  the  first  Trustees,  and  shall,  as  soon  as  may  be  after 
the  passage  of  this  act,  organize  themselves  into  three  equal  classes.  The 
first  class,  so  organized,  shall  go  out  of  office,  and  successors,  being  lot 
proprietors,  to  be  chosen,  on  the  first  Monday  of  December,  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  forty ;  the  second  class,  in  like  manner,  on  the  firtfc 
Monday  of  December,  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty-two ;  and 
the  third,  in  like  manner,  on  the  first  Monday  of  December,  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  forty-four ;  and  thenceforward,  biennially,  one  class,  in 
order,  shall  go  out  of  office,  and  successors,  being  lot  proprietors,  be 
chosen ;  provided,  that  the  members  of  the  several  classes  shall  be  re- 
eligible,  and  retain  their  stations  until  their  successors  are  chosen.  Notice 
of  such  elections  shall  be  given  in  one  or  more  newspapers  published  in 
the  cities  of  New  York  or  Brooklyn,  at  least  fourteen  days  previous  to  the 
time  of  holding  the  same.  The  election  shall  be  by  ballot,  and  every  pro- 
prietor of  a  lot  or  parcel  of  ground  of  a  size  not  less  than  three  hundred 
square  feet,  or,  if  there  be  more  than  one  proprietor  of  any  such  lot  or  par- 
cel, then  such  one  as  the  proprietors  of  such  original  lot  for  the  time 
being,  or  a  majority  of  them,  shall  designate  to  represent  such  lot  or  par- 
cel at  such  election,  shall  have,  either  in  person  or  by  proxy,  one  vote  for 
each  of  such  lot  or  parcel ;  and  the  five  persons,  being  lot  proprietors, 
having  a  majority  of  all  the  votes  given  at  such  election,  shall  be  declared 
duly  elected  Trustees.  The  Trustees  of  the  said  Corporation  shall  here- 
after, in  all  cases,  be  chosen  from  among  the  lot  proprietors,  and  shall 
have  the  power  to  fill  any  vacancy  in  their  number  that  may  occur  during 
the  period  for  which  they  hold  their  office. 

Sec.  3.  An  annual  meeting  of  said  Corporation  shall  be  holden  at  such 
time  and  place  as  the  By-laws  shall  direct ;  notice  whereof  shall  be  given, 
in  like  manner  above  mentioned,  seven  days  at  least  before  the  time  of 
meeting.  The  Trustees  shall  make  report  to  the  Corporation,  at  such  an- 
nual meeting,  of  their  doings,  and  of  the  management,  and  condition,  and 
fiscal  concerns  of  the  Corporation. 

Sec.  4.  All  lots  or  parcels  of  ground  when  conveyed,  and  designated 
and  numbered  as  lots,  by  the  said  Corporation,  shall  be  indivisible,  but 
may  afterwards  be  held  and  owned  in  undivided  shares ;  one-half  of  all 
the  sales  made  by  the  said  Corporation  shall  be  first  applied  to  the  pay- 
ment of  the  purchase-money  of  the  land  acquired  by  the  said  Corporation, 
and  the  residue  thereof  shall  be  applied  to  preserving,  improving,  and 


180 


APPENDIX. 


embellishing  the  said  land  as  a  Cemetery  or  burial-ground,  and  to  the  inci- 
dental expenses  of  the  Cemetery  establishment;  and  after  payment  of 
such  purchase-money,  the  proceeds  of  all  future  sales  shall  be  applied  to 
the  preservation,  improvement,  and  embellishment  of  the  said  Cemeteiy, 
and  incidental  expenses  thereof,  and  to  no  other  purpose  whatsoever. 

Sec.  5.  Any  person  who  shall  wilfully  destroy,  mutilate,  deface,  injure, 
or  remove  any  tomb,  monument,  or  grave-stone,  or  other  structure  placed 
in  the  Cemetery  aforesaid,  or  any  fence,  railing,  or  other  work  for  the 
protection  or  ornament  of  the  said  Cemetery,  or  of  any  tomb,  monument, 
or  grave-stone,  or  other  structure  aforesaid  ;  or  of  any  Cemetery  lot  within 
the  Cemetery  aforesaid ;  or  shall  wilfully  destroy,  cut,  break,  or  injure 
any  tree,  shrub,  or  plant,  within  the  limits  of  the  said  Cemetery,  shall  be 
deemed  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor,  and  shall,  upon  conviction  thereof,  be- 
fore any  Justice  of  the  Peace,  or  other  Court  of  competent  jurisdiction 
within  the  County  of  Kings,  be  punished  by  a  fine  not  less  than  five  dol- 
lars, nor  more  than  fifty  dollars,  according  to  the  nature  and  aggravation 
of  the  offence ;  and  such  offender  shall  also  be  liable  in  an  action  of  tres- 
pass, to  be  brought  against  him  in  any  Court  of  competent  jurisdiction,  in 
the  name  of  the  said  Corporation,  to  pay  all  such  damages  as  shall  have 
been  occasioned  by  his  unlawful  act  or  acts ;  which  money,  when  recov- 
ered, shall  be  applied  by  the  said  Corporation,  under  the  direction  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees,  to  the  reparation  and  restoration  of  the  property  de- 
stroyed or  injured  as  above ;  and  members  of  the  said  Corporation  shall 
be  competent  witnesses  in  such  suits. 

Sec.  G.  The  said  Corporation  may  take  and  hold  any  grant,  donation, 
or  bequest  of  property  upon  trust,  to  apply  the  same  or  the  income  thereof, 
under  the  direction  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  for  the  improvement  or  em- 
bellishment of  the  said  Cemetery,  or  for  the  erection,  repair,  preservation, 
or  renewal  of  any  tomb,  monument,  or  grave-stone,  fence,  railing,  or  other 
erection,  or  for  the  planting  and  cultivation  of  trees,  shrubs,  flowers,  or 
plants,  in  or  around  any  Cemetery  Jot,  or  for  improving  the  said  prem- 
ises in  any  other  manner  or  form  consistent  with  the  design  and  purpose 
of  this  act,  according  to  the  terms  of  such  grant,  donation,  or  bequest. 

Sec  7.  The  said  Cemetery  shall  be,  and  hereby  is  declared,  exempted 
from  all  public  taxes,  so  long  as  the  same  shall  remain  dedicated  to  the 
purposes  of  a  Cemetery. 

Sec.  8.  Every  provision  in  the  Charter  hereby  altered  and  amended, 
which  is  inconsistent  with  the  provisions  of  this  act,  is  hereby  repealed. 


ADVERTISEMENT. 


181 


VH— FIRST  ADVERTISEMENT  FOR  SUBSCRIPTION  TO 
BURYING-PLATS. 


Notice. — Books  are  open  for  subscription  to  family  Burying-Plats,  in 
this  Cemetery,  at  the  office,  No.  8  Wall  Street,  at  Messrs.  Le  Roy  &  Perry's, 
No.  1  Hanover  Street,  and  at  the  corner  of  Front  and  Fulton  Streets, 
Brooklyn,  until  further  notice. 

The  size  of  the  Plats,  including  the  margin  allowed  for  enclosure,  is 
378  square  feet,  and  the  price  one  hundred  dollars, — 10  per  cent,  to  be 
paid  at  the  time  of  subscribing,  and  the  remainder  in  equal  payments,  on 
the  1st  of  February  and  the  1st  of  June,  1840 — all  the  proceeds  to  be  ex- 
pended in  improvements  on  the  ground. 

The  grounds  (250  acres  in  extent)  are  about  two  and  a  half  miles  from 
the  South  Ferry,  on  the  hills  of  Gowanus,  beautiful  in  situation,  and  com- 
manding in  prospect.  They  are  now  being  laid  out  on  the  principle  of 
Mount  Auburn,  and  other  picturesque  cemeteries,  and  it  is  intended  that 
the  Plats  shall  be  ready  for  selection  early  in  November,  until  which 
time,  the  public  are  respectfully  invited  to  visit  them. 

A  pamphlet,  containing  a  full  account  of  the  institution,  its  charters  of 
incorporation,  &c,  may  be  had,  with  further  particulars,  on  application  as 
above,  or  to  either  of  the  Trustees  following,  viz. : — 


Greexwood  Cemetery. 


D.  B.  Douglass, 
Joxathax  Goodhue, 
Thomas  L.  Ogdex, 
Robert  Ray, 
STEPnEX  Whitxey, 
Jacob  R.  Le  Roy, 

P.  ScnERMERHORX, 


Zebedee  Cook,  Jr., 
Russell  Stebbixs, 
Hexey  E.  Pieerepoxt, 
J.  A.  Perry, 
Plixy  Feeemax-, 
A.  G.  Hammoxd, 
Geo.  S.  Howlaxd, 


Charles  Kixg. 


D.  B.  DOUGLASS,  President. 


New  York,  Oct.  9,  1839. 


182 


APPENDIX. 


VIII. — PUBLIC  MEETING  IN  BROOKLYN". 

Call  of  a  meeting  in  regard  to  Green-Wood  Cemetery,  March  14,  1842. 

"The  undersigned,  having  learned  that  the  Green- Wood  Cemetery  is 
in  imminent  danger  of  being  abandoned,  from  the  want  of  a  small  addi- 
tional subscription  for  Burial-Lots,  and  feeling  a  deep  interest,  as  residents 
of  Brooklyn  and  as  individuals,  in  its  success,  request  the  citizens  of 
Brooklyn  to  unite  with  them  in  a  public  meeting,  to  be  holden  on  Monday 
evening,  March  14th,  at  half  past  seven  o'clock,  with  the  view  to  concert 
measures  to  avert  an  event  so  much  to  be  deplored  by  every  individual 
of  the  community. 

"In  consequence  of  the  Lyceum  being  otherwise  engaged  for  that 
evening,  the  Trustees  of  the  Central  Reformed  Dutch  Church  in  Henry 
Street  (Rev.  Dr.  Broadhead's)  have  kindly  allowed  the  use  of  their  edi- 
fice for  the  occasion. 


C.  P.  Smith, 

John  Lawrence, 

George  Hall, 

Daniel  Embury, 

Jonathan  Trotter, 

B.  D.  Silliman, 

David  Leavitt, 

Joseph  Sands, 

R.  Sands  Tucker, 

William  Torrey, 

David  Wesson, 

B.  C.  Cutler, 

Andrew  Wesson, 

Henry  L.  Clarke, 

Thomas  Messenger, 

John  A.  Cross, 

J.  W.  Raymond, 

William  Halsey, 

Samuel  H.  Cox, 

John  S.  Stone, 

James  Haslett, 

Charles  E.  Bulkley, 

Amos  Allen, 

Theodore  Eames, 

Erasmus  A.  Kutz, 

A.  liegeman, 

Elihu  Harrison, 

John  Dikeman, 

J.  A.  Davenport, 

Wm.  Rushmore, 

D.  A.  Bokce, 

George  S.  Howland, 

P.  C.  Cornell, 

E.  W.  Dunham, 

W.  M.  Harris, 

Richard  Upjohn, 

W.  J.  Cornell, 

Henry  E.  Pierrepont, 

T.  S.  Mason, 

Peter  Morton, 

CIRCULAE. 


183 


George  Marvin, 
A.  K.  Niven, 
Charles  Hoyt, 
James  Floy, 


G.  G.  Van  Wagenen, 

A.  A.  Low, 

E.  D.  Hurlbut, 

Theodore  F.  Xing, 

Arthur  Tappan, 

David  Coope, 

Sheldon  C.  Leavitt, 

J.  D.  Hurlbut, 

G.  Hurlbut, 

N.  D.  Carlisle, 

A.  Tan  No  strand." 


S.  Sanders, 
J.  S.  Nichols, 
Win.  B.  Cooper, 


Samuel  Smith, 
James  Waters, 
Seth  Low, 


J.  E.  Underbill. 


Of  the  meeting  thus  called,  the  Hon.  Cyrus  P.  Smith,  at  that  time 
Mayor  of  Brooklyn,  was  Chairman,  and  Mr.  Whitehead  J.  Cornell,  Secre- 
tary.   Alderman  Morton  offered  the  following  resolutions : 

1st.  That,  in  the  opinion  of  this  meeting,  the  ground  should  be  pre- 
served for  the  purpose  of  a  cemetery. 

2d.  That  lots  be  forthwith  subscribed  for. 

The  object  of  the  meeting  and  the  wants  of  the  Cemetery  were  ably 
and  eloquently  set  forth  in  addresses  by  Rev.  Drs.  Cutler,  Cox,  and  Stone, 
the  Rev.  Messrs.  Farley  and  Spencer,  and  Alderman  Harris. 


IX.— CIRCULAR  OF  ZEBEDEE  COOK  AND  CYRUS  P.  SMITH. 

The  Trustees  of  the  Green-Wood  Cemetery,  through  the  undersigned, 
a  Committee  of  the  Board  appointed  for  that  purpose,  are  happy  to  an- 
nounce that  their  subscriptions  for  Burial-Lots  are  now  sufficient,  when 
paid,  to  enable  them  to  open  a  portion  of  their  Grounds,  consisting  of  up- 
wards of  one  hundred  acres,  lying  in  a  body,  entirely  free  from  encum- 
brance, and  to  deliver  Deeds  for  all  Lots  within  those  bounds. 

The  Trustees  are  desirous  of  authorising  interments  at  the  earliest 
possible  day,  and  they  therefore  earnestly  request  subscribers  to  make 
immediate  payment  to  either  of  the  undersigned,  who  have  been  specially 
charged  with  the  receipt  and  application  of  the  funds  specifically  for  the 


184 


APPENDIX. 


accomplishment  of  that  object.  Eeceipts  will  be  given,  entitling  persons 
to  Deeds,  whenever  they  shall  have  made  their  selections  and  signified  the 
same  to  the  Company. 

The  undersigned  deem  it  proper  to  add,  that  arrangements  have  been 
made  for  an  early  enclosure  of  the  Grounds,  which  will  be  commenced 
the  present  spring. 

Any  further  information  may  be  had  on  application  to  either  of  the 
undersigned,  or  at  the  office  of  J.  A.  Perry,  No.  1  Hanover  Street,  who 
will  give  every  facility  to  subscribers  in  making  their  selections  of  Lots. 

Zebedee  Cook,  Jr., 
At  the  office  of  the  Mutual  Safety  Insurance  Company,  44  Wall  Street. 

Cyeus  P.  Smith, 

Brooklyn. 

New  York,  May  Gth,  1842. 


X.— AMENDMENTS  TO  CHAPTER,  . 
Passed  May  11,  184G. 

The  People  of  the  State  of  New  York,  represented  in  Senate  and  Assembly, 
do  enact  as  follows: 

Section  1.  The  Green- Wood  Cemetery  may  acquire,  take,  and  hold 
land  within  the  City  of  Brooklyn,  or  in  the  Town  of  Flatbush,  in  the 
County  of  Kings,  next  adjoining  thereto,  not  exceeding  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  acres  in  addition  to  the  land  which  the  said  Corporation  is 
now  authorized  by  the  third  section  of  the  act,  entitled  "An  Act  to  incor- 
porate the  Green-Wood  Cemetery,"  passed  April  18,  1838,  to  acquire, 
take,  and  hold ;  and  may  hold,  use,  sell,  or  otherwise  dispose  of  the  same, 
in  the  same  manner,  with  the  same  privileges,  and  for  the  same  uses  and 
purposes  contemplated  by  the  said  act. 

Sec.  2.  This  act  shall  take  effect  immediately. 


AMENDMENTS  TO  CHARTER. 


185 


XL— AMENDMENTS  TO  CHARTER. 
Passed  April  5,  1850. 

The  People  of  the  State  of  New  Yorlc,  represented  in  Senate  and  Assembly, 
do  enact  as  follows : 

Section  1.  Any  lot  or  lots  hereafter  to  be  conveyed  by  the  said  Cor- 
poration may  be  so  conveyed,  that  upon  such  conveyance  thereof,  or  after 
there  shall  have  been  an  interment  therein,  such  lot  or  lots  shall  be  for- 
ever thereafter  inalienable,  and  shall,  upon  the  death  of  the  holder  or 
proprietor  thereof,  descend  to  all,  any,  or  either  of  the  heirs  at  law  of  such 
holder  or  proprietor,  and  to  all,  any,  or  either  of  their  heirs  at  law,  or  to 
such  person  or  persons,  or  such  class  or  classes  of  persons,  as  may  in  the 
conveyance  thereof  be  designated  for  that  purpose ;  but  any  one  or  more 
of  the  persons  who  shall  become  the  joint  owners  or  proprietors  of  any 
lot  or  lots,  may  release  to  any  other  or  others  of  such  persons  his,  her,  or 
their  interest  in  the  same,  on  such  conditions  as  shall  be  agreed  upon  and 
specified  in  such  release. 

Sec  2.  Any  lot  or  lots  heretofore  conveyed  by  the  said  Corporation, 
or  which  may  hereafter  be  conveyed  in  the  manner  heretofore  authorized, 
may  be  held  and  enjoyed  in  the  manner  authorized  by  the  first  section  of 
this  Act;  provided  the  same  be  signified  and  declared  by  any  instrument 
in  writing,  or  by  any  last  will  or  testament,  duly  made  and  executed  by 
the  holder  or  proprietor  of  such  lot  or  lots  for  that  purpose. 

Sec.  3.  The  said  Corporation  may  take  and  hold  any  lot  or  lots  which 
may  be  conveyed  or  devised  to  them  by  the  owners  or  proprietors  thereof, 
to  be  hereafter  inalienable,  and  with  authority  to  restrict  interments 
therein  to  such  person  or  persons,  or  class  of  persons,  as  may  for  that 
purpose  be  designated  and  prescribed  in  the  conveyance  or  devise  under 
which  the  said  lot  or  lots  shall  be  so  taken  and  held. 

Sec.  4.  It  shall  be  lawful  for  the  said  Corporation  to  sell  and  dispose 
of  all  or  any  such  parcel  or  parcels  of  land  in  the  City  of  Brooklyn  here- 
tofore acquired  by  them,  and  lying  northerly  of  the  southerly  line  of 
Twenty-fourth  Street,  if  the  said  line  were  extended  easterly  through  the 
grounds  of  said  Corporation,  or  within  two  hundred  feet  southerly  of  the 
said  line,  as  they  shall  deem  it  unnecessary  or  inexpedient  to  retain  for 


186 


APPENDIX. 


purposes  of  burial,  and  to  convey  the  same  free,  and  discharged  from  all 
or  any  of  the  restrictions  and  privileges  appertaining  thereto  as  the  prop- 
erty of  the  said  Corporation. 


XII— AMENDMENTS  TO  CHARTER. 
Passed  June  8,  1853. 

Section  1.  The  Green-"Wood  Cemetery  may  hold  land  heretofore 
acquired,  or  hereafter  to  be  acquired,  not  exceeding  seventy-five  acres  in 
addition  to  the  land  which  the  said  Corporation  is  now  authorized  to  hold, 
by  the  act  entitled  "An  Act  to  incorporate  the  GreenAYood  Cemetery," 
passed  April  18,  1838,  and  the  several  acts  heretofore  passed  to  alter  or 
amend  the  same  ;  and  may  hold,  use,  sell,  or  otherwise  dispose  of  the  same, 
in  the  same  manner,  with  the  same  privileges,  and  for  the  uses  and  pur- 
poses contemplated  by  the  said  acts  respectively  :  provided,  that  the  lands 
hereafter  to  be  acquired  shall  lie  and  be  embraced  within  the  boundaries 
designated  in  the  next  succeeding  section  of  this  act. 

Sec.  2.  No  public  road,  street,  or  avenue  shall  be  laid  out  or  opened 
over,  upon,  or  through  the  lands  of  the  said  Corporation ;  provided,  how- 
ever, that  this  act  shall  not  apply  to  any  streets  or  avenues  in  the  City  of 
Brooklyn,  westerly  of  the  easterly  side  of  the  Fifth  Avenue  ;  northerly  of 
the  northerly  boundary-line  of  the  lands  of  the  said  Company,  as  desig- 
nated on  the  Commissioner's  Map  for  laying  out  streets  and  avenues  in  the 
City  of  Brooklyn,  and  of  the  extension  of  said  boundary -line  along  the 
southerly  side  of  Twenty-first  Street,  to  the  boundary-line  next  hereinafter 
mentioned ;  southeasterly  of  a  line  parallel  to  the  patent  line  between  the 
Town  of  Flatbush  and  the  City  of  Brooklyn,  and  distant  therefrom  not 
exceeding  one  thousand  six  hundred  and  sixty  feet ;  southerly  of  the  north- 
erly side  of  Martenses'  Lane,  until  its  intersection  with  Thirty-seventh 
Street ;  southerly  also  of  the  northerly  side  of  Thirty-seventh  Street,  east- 
erly of  the  Seventh  Avenue,  and  southerly  of  the  northerly  side  of  Mar- 
tenses'  Lane,  between  the  last-mentioned  avenue  and  the  Fifth  Avenue. 

Sec.  3.  It  shall  be  lawful  for  the  public  authorities  of  the  Town  of 
Flatbush,  notwithstanding  the  provisions  of  this  act,  to  lay  out  and  cause 


AMENDMENTS  TO  CIIAKTEK. 


187 


co  be  opened,  any  time  within  five  years  from  the  passage  of  this  act,  a 
public  road  or  highway  along  the  southeasterly  boundary  of  the  said 
Cemetery,  as  herein  defined,  not  exceeding  eighty  feet  in  width ;  and  the 
said  Cemetery  shall  grant,  free  of  charge  or  claims  for  damages,  the  one- 
half  in  width  of  the  land  required  for  said  public  road  or  highway,  and 
shall  pay  the  one-half  of  the  cost  of  making  said  road  or  highway,  in  good 
travelling  order,  as  far  as  their  southeasterly  boundary  extends ;  but 
should  the  said  public  authorities  prefer  to  have  said  road  or  highway  laid 
out  and  opened  parallel  to  the  Tenth  Avenue  of  the  City  of  Brooklyn,  and 
distant  therefrom  southeasterly  not  less  than  one  thousand  three  hundred 
feet,  then  the  said  Cemetery  shall  grant,  free  of  charge  or  claims  for  dam- 
ages, so  much  of  the  land  as  may  be  necessary  for  said  road  or  highway 
as  lies  within  their  boundaries,  and  shall  pay  the  costs  and  charges  for 
grading  the  land  so  granted,  and  making  the  said  road  or  highway  over 
the  same  in  good  travelling  order  ;  and  any  land  lying  beyond  said  road  or 
highway  in  a  southeasterly  direction  shall  be  subject  to  taxation  the  same 
as  other  lands,  and  shall  not  be  used  for  burial  purposes,  but  may  be  sold 
and  disposed  of.  free  and  discharged  from  any  restrictions  imposed  thereon, 
as  the  land  of  the  said  Company. 

Sec.  4.  It  shall  be  further  lawful  for  the  said  public  authorities  of  the 
Town  of  Flatbush,  if  they  deem  it  advisable,  to  straighten  and  widen  that 
part  of  Martenses'  Lane  lying  in  said  town,  so  as,  when  widened,  not  to 
exceed  sixty  feet  in  width ;  and  the  said  Cemetery  shall  grant,  free  of 
charge  or  claims  for  damages,  the  one-half  of  the  land  along  the  south- 
westerly boundary  of  the  said  Cemetery,  as  may  be  necessary  for  such 
purpose,  and  shall  pay  the  costs  and  charges  for  grading  the  lands  so 
granted,  and  making  the  road  over  the  same  in  good  travelling  order. 

Sec.  5.  The  said  Cemetery  shall  not  be  exempt  from  paying  assess- 
ments for  the  grading  and  paving  the  Fifth  Avenue  in  the  said  city,  and 
such  assessments  may  be  imposed  on  the  property  of  said  Cemetery,  and 
collected  in  the  manner  that  other  assessments  are  levied,  collected,  and 
paid ;  and  said  Cemetery  are  hereby  authorized  to  pay  the  same. 

Sec.  6.  This  act  shall  take  effect  immediately. 


APPENDIX. 


XIII.— CONTRIBUTIONS  TO  THE  CLINTON  MONUMENT. 

Subscriptions  of  Five  Hundred  Dollars. 

Jonathan  Sturges,  Ogden  Haggerty,  for  himself  and 

others, 

0.  M.  Lenpp,  A.  M.  Cozzens,  for  himself  and 

others. 

Subscriptions  of  Three  Hundred  Dollars. 
Richard  K.  Haight. 

Subscriptions  of  Two  Hundred  Dollars. 
Stephen  Whitney,  Wm.  B.  Astor, 

George  Griswold,  James  Lenox, 

John  Jacob  Astor,  John  C.  Green. 

Subscriptions  of  One  Hundred  Dollars. 

Robert  Ray,  Robert  Bayard, 

Wm.  Augustus  White,  John  Johnston, 

Jacob  R.  Le  Roy,  Valentine  G.  Hall. 

Henry  E.  Pierrepont,  James  Brown, 

Wm.  E.  Wilmerding,  Samuel  S.  Howland, 

Wm.  S.  Packer,  Wm.  n.  Aspinwall, 

David  Leavitt,  Wm.  Douglas, 

Earnest  Feidler,  Robert  L.  Stuart, 

Ferdinand  Suydam,  Gardiner  G.  Howland, 

Benjamin  Aymar,  Marcus  Spring, 

John  D.  Wolfe,  Henry  G.  Marquand. 

Subscriptions  of  Fifty  Dollars. 

Abraham  Schermerhorn,  John  Sneden, 

John  Ward,  Coleman  &  Stetson, 

John  H.  Prentice,  George  S.  Robbins, 

Wm.  B.  Crosby,  John  F.  Butterworth, 

Jeremiah  Johnson,  A.  A.  Low, 

Asa  Fitch,  John  W.  Livingston, 


CONTRIBUTIONS  TO  THE  CLINTON  MONUMENT. 


John  B.  Graham, 
Augustus  Graham, 
Philip  Hone, 
Mathew  Morgan, 
H.  W.  Field, 
K  IT.  Wolfe, 
Gordon  W.  Burnham, 
E.  K.  Collins, 
James  Foster,  Jr., 
Japhet  Bishop, 
W.  C.  Langley, 
Lispenard  Stewart, 
Thomas  Hunt, 
R.  II.  McCurdy, 
D.  II.  Haight, 
Jos.  Kernochan, 

Subscriptions  of 

Nicholas  Low, 

Augustus  Fleming, 

S.  B.  Althause, 

J.  C.  Brevoort, 

George  W.  Stilwell, 

W.  Ludluin, 

Hugh  Maxwell, 

Jos.  K  Lord, 

George  Newbold, 

D.  S.  Kennedy, 

N.  M.  Hoffman, 

Henry  Laverty, 

Jacob  Little, 

Thomas  Morrell, 

John  Lafarge, 

Judge  Daly, 

Israel  Corse, 

Abraham  G.  Thompson, 

Saul  Alley, 

Charles  O'Connor, 
26 


John  Benson, 
Wm.  S.  Wetmore, 
R.  B.  Minturn, 
Moses  II.  Grinnell, 
Benjamin  L.  Swan, 
Frederick  H.  Wolcott, 
Peter  Richards,  Jr., 
J.  P.  Cronkite, 
David  Austen, 
John  Oothout, 
Clinton  Gilbert, 
Stephen  Allen, 
David  A.  Comstock, 
Henry  Chauncey, 
Cornelius  Smith. 


Twenty-Jive  Dollars. 

James  I.  Roosevelt, 
F.  W.  Edmonds, 
Wm.  Mackay, 
H.  Lawrence, 
Robert  Kelly, 
Wm.  P.  Miller, 
Mulford  Martin, 
George  Hastings, 
Lottimer  &  Large, 
Hoyt  &  Tillinghast, 
Amos  R.  Eno, 
Hopkins  &  Allen, 
Ball,  Tompkins  &  Black, 
Wm.  Wright, 
Piatt  &  Brother, 
Fellows  &  Co., 
James  R.  Taylor, 
Theodore  Strang, 
Uriah  J.  Smith, 
Wilson  G.  Hunt  &  Co., 


APPEXDIX. 


James  TV.  Gerard, 
Edwards  W.  Fiske, 
Bollin  Sanford, 
Thomas  Hope  &  Co., 
"W.  Kemble, 
Dudley  B.  Fuller, 


Aymar  &  Co., 

"Walter  E.  Jones, 

Josiah  L.  Hale, 

Silas  Herring, 

George  B.  Jackson  &  Co. 


Subscriptions  of  Ten  Dollars. 

Dennis  Perkius,  E.  T.  Holmes, 

Henry  Butler,  Daniel  Ayres, 

A.  &  A.  G.  Trask,  Alfred  Edwards, 

Eussell  Dart,  K  J.  Becar, 

Iugoldsby  &  Halsted,  J.  &  J.  Stuart  &  Co., 

"Wolfe  &  Gillespie,  Ed.  Banker, 

Clias.  M.  Graham,  J.  W.  Alsop, 

Samuel  Perry,  A.  B.  &  D.  Sands. 


The  Green-AVood  Cemetery  contributed : 

Towards  the  monument  $3,000  00 

Eor  cost  of  granite  base  for  do  -   204  71 

For  plan  of  base   50  00 

For  cost  of  vault  and  foundation  of  monument. . . .  237  07 

For  cost  of  iron  railing   355  00 

For  sundry  expenses   98  61 


$3,945  39 


XIY.— COEPOEATOES,  TEUSTEES,   OFFICEES,  AKD 
ASSISTANTS. 


Corporators. 


Samuel  Ward, 
John  P.  Stagg, 
Charles  King, 
David  B.  Douglass, 


Eussell  Stebbins, 
Joseph  A.  Perry, 
nenry  E.  Pierrepont, 
Plinv  Freeman. 


CORPORATORS,  TRUSTEES,  ETC. 


191 


Presidents. 

David  B.  Douglass,  elected  January  14,  1839;  resigned  January  25, 
1841. 

Zebedee  Cook,  Jr.,  elected  March  6,  1841;  resigned  December  2, 
1844. 

Robert  Ray,  elected  January  18,  1845;  resigned  March  9,  1864. 
Henry  E.  Pierrepont,  elected  March  9,  18G4. 

Vice- P  res  iden  ts. 

J.  A.  Perry,  elected  August  9,  1842  ;  resigned  December  4,  1843. 
H.  E.  Pierrepont,  elected  December  4,  1843 ;  resigned  M.r.'ch  9,  1864. 
Wm.  Augs.  White,  elected  March  9,  1864. 

Secretaries. 

IT.  E.  Pierrepont,  elected  December  15,  1838;  resigned  December  13, 
1843. 

J.  A.  Perry,  elected  December  13,  1843,  and  is  still  in  office. 
Comjyt  rollers. 

Jacob  R.  Le  Roy,  elected  January  14,  1839;  resigned  April  30,  1842. 
Henry  E.  Pierrepont,  elected  April  30,  1842  ;  resigned  December  4, 
1843. 

Joseph  A.  Perry,  elected  December  4,  1843,  and  is  still  in  office. 

Trustees. 

Charles  King,  elected  November  24,  1838,  term  of  office  to  expire  in 
1840. 

Peter  Schermerhorn,  elected  at  the  same  time,  and  for  the  same  period. 

Stephen  "Whitney,  elected  at  the  same  time,  and  for  tbe  same  period ; 
re-elected  December  7,  1840;  December  7,  1846;  December  6,  1852; 
December  6,  1858;  died  in  office  February  16,  1860. 

Jonathan  Goodhue,  elected  November  24,  1838,  term  of  office  to  expire 
in  1840;  re-elected  December  7,  1840;  December  7,  1846;  died  in  office 
November  26,  1848. 

Henry  E.  Pierrepont,  elected  November  24,  1838,  term  of  office  to 
expire  in  1842;  re-elected  December  5,  1842  ;  December  4,  1848;  Decem- 
ber 4,  1854;  December  3,  1860;  and  is  still  in  office. 

Jacob  R.  Le  Roy,  elected  November  24,  1838,  term  of  office  to  expire  in 


192 


APPENDIX. 


1842;  re-elected  December  5,  1842;  December  4,  1848;  December  4, 1854; 
resigned  December  18,  1858. 

Alonzo  G.  Hammond,  elected  November  24,  1838,  term  of  office  to 
expire  in  1840  ;  re-elected  December  7,  1840;  December  7,  1846;  Decem- 
ber 6,  1852;  December  6,  1858;  died  in  office  December  20,  1859. 

Joseph  A.  Perry,  elected  November  24,  1838,  term  of  office  to  expire 
in  1842;  re-elected  December  5,  1842;  December  4,  1848;  December  4, 
1854;  December  3,  1860;  and  is  still  in  office. 

Thomas  Ludlow  Ogden,  elected  November  24,  1838,  term  of  office  to 
expire  in  1842  ;  re-elected  December  5,  1842  ;  died  in  office  in  1844. 

Russell  Stebbins,  elected  November  24,  1838,  term  of  office  to  expire 
in  1842;  re-elected  December  5,  1842;  December  4,  1848;  December  4, 
1854;  December  3,  1860;  and  is  still  in  office. 

David  B.  Douglass,  elected  November  24,  1838,  term  of  office  to  expire 
in  1844;  resigned  January  25,  1841. 

George  S.  Howland,  elected  November  24, 1838,  term  of  office  to  expire 
in  1844;  resigned  March  6,  1841. 

Daniel  Embury,  elected  November  24,  1838,  term  of  office  to  expire  in 
1844  ;  resigned  January  14,  1830. 

Pliny  Freeman,  elected  November  24,  1838,  term  of  office  to  expire  in 
1844;  re-elected  December  2,  1844;  December  2,  1850;  December  1, 
1856;  December  1,  1862  ;  and  is  still  in  office. 

Robert  Ray,  elected  November  24,  1838,  term  of  office  to  expire  in 
1844;  re-elected  December  2,  1844;  December  2,  1850;  December,  1, 1856; 
December  1,  1862  ;  and  is  still  in  office. 

The  above-named  gentlemen  formed  the  first  Board  of  Directors  or 
Trustees. 

Zebedee  Cook,  Jr.,  elected  January  14,  1839 ;  resigned  December  2, 
1844. 

Gerrit  G.  Van  "Wagenen,  elected  December  7, 1840  ;  re-elected  Decem- 
ber 7,  1846;  December  6,  1852;  died  in  office  September  27,  1858. 

William  B.  Crosby,  elected  December  7,  1840;  resigned  December  10, 
1845. 

Cyrus  P.  Smith,  elected  March  6,  1841 ;  re-elected  December  2,  1844: 
December  2,  1850;  December  1,  1856;  December  1,  1862;  and  is  still  in 
office. 


TRUSTEES,  OFFICERS,  ETC. 


193 


John  H.  Prentice,  elected  December  5,  1842;  re-elected  December  2, 
1844;  December  2,  1850;  December  1,  1856;  December  1,  1862;  and  is 
still  in  office. 

William  S.  Wetmore,  elected  December  2,  1844;  re-elected  December 
2,  1850  ;  resigned  December  1,  1856. 

George  Griswold,  elected  January  18,  1845 ;  re-elected  December  4, 
1848  ;  December  4,  1854;  died  in  office  September  5,  1859. 

William  Augustus  White,  elected  December  1,  1845  ;  re-elected  Decem- 
ber 7,  1846;  December  2,  1852;  December  6,  1858;  and  is  still  in  office. 

William  H.  Aspinwall,  elected  December  6, 1852 ;  re-elected  December 
6,  1858  ;  and  is  still  in  office. 

Benjamin  D.  Silliman,  elected  December  1,  1856;  resigned  December 
18,  1858. 

Luther  Bradish,  elected  December  6,  1858 ;  died  in  office  September  2, 
1863. 

J.  Carson  Brevoort,  elected  December  18,  1858 ;  re-elected  December 
1,  1862 ;  and  is  still  in  office. 

Abiel  A.  Low,  elected  December  18,  1858;  re-elected  December  3, 
1860  ;  and  is  still  in  office. 

John  C.  Green,  elected  March  14,  1860;  re-elected  December  3,  1860; 
and  is  still  in  office. 

James  W.  Beekman,  elected  March  14,  1860,  and  is  still  in  office. 

Arthur  W.  Benson,  elected  March  14,  1860,  and  is  still  in  office. 

Officers  at  the  Cemetery. 

William  Scrhrigeour,  came  as  rodman  to  Major  Douglass,  September  1, 
1839;  afterwards  keeper  of  the  grounds,  and  then  superintendent  of  inter- 
ments ;  still  in  office. 

George  Birrell,  came  as  laborer  in  August,  1842;  was  afterwards  ap- 
pointed superintendent  of  the  workmen;  resigned  November  1,  1853. 

George  Gamgee,  superintendent  of  the  workmen;  came  in  anticipation 
of  the  resignation  of  Mr.  Birrell,  May  12,  1853 ;  still  in  office. 

Michael  Fitzgibbon,  first  keeper  of  the  gate  (at  Twenty-seventh  Street) ; 
came  in  1845  ;  left  December  8,  1852. 

John  O.  Shaughnessy,  a  laborer,  appointed  keeper  of  the  gate  Decem- 
ber 8,  1852  ;  died  in  office  December  9,'  1861. 

Nelson  Bowker,  keeper  of  the  gate  at  western  entrance;  appointed 
December  1,  1852 ;  resigned  May  1,  1862. 


194: 


APPENDIX. 


John  Crisp,  succeeded  Mr.  Bowker  May  1,  1802,  and  is  still  in  office. 

John  Mountain,  keeper  of  the  gate  at  the  northern  entrance ;  appointed 
May  1,  1862,  and  is  still  in  office. 

Robert  Scrirageour,  Jr.,  assistant  in  the  office;  came  in  June,  1849; 
left  May  4,  1853. 

Robert  Scrirageour,  assistant  in  the  office ;  came  May  1,  1853,  and  is 
still  in  office. 

Frank  S.  Scrirageour,  assistant  in  the  office ;  came  August  13,  18C3  ; 
left  to  go  into  the  New  York  office  June  20,  1864. 

Lemuel  Davidson,  assistant  in  the  office;  came  June  20,  1864;  left 
August  20,  1864. 

As  Surveyors. 
A.  TV.  Harrison,  to  prepare  a  map,  1839. 

Almerin  Hotchkiss,  from  August  22,  1840,  to  March  22,  1841 ;  and 
from  May  9,  1842,  to  March  9,  1846. 

William  C.  Moore,  from  September  1,  1846,  to  July  1,  1847. 

Daniel  McLaughlin,  from  March  10,  1848,  till  his  death,  in  October  of 
same  year. 

James  Galway,  assistant,  from  April  1,  1848,  to  August  14,  1848. 

Lindsay  J.  "Wells,  appointed  November  7,  1848,  and  still  in  office. 

Edward  Boyle,  appointed  to  resurvey  the  cemetery,  November  1,  1848; 
Mr.  Boyle  left  December  15,  1849,  his  work  being  nearly  done.  It  was 
completed  in  the  Spring  following. 

Assistants  in  JSrew  Yorh  Office. 

Isaac  Iloose,  came  October  15,  1842;  left  August  27,  1848. 
Wm,  H.  Newman,  came  August  5,  1847;  left  May  15,  1849. 
George  Gray,  came  April  27,  1849;  left  July  17,  1851. 
Henry  W.  Van  Antwerp,  came  June  16,  1849;  left  June  16,  1850. 
Thomas  E.  Van  Antwerp,  came  June  16,  1850 ;  left  September  16, 1850. 
Garret  Manee,  came  August  21,  1850  ;  left  May  1,  1852. 
David  H.  McCoy,  came  August  6,  1851 ;  still  in  office. 
<  William  Manee,  came  May  1,  1852  ;  left  August  23,  1852. 
Garret  Manee,  returned  August  23,  1852;  left  August  20,  1856. 
Henry  K.  Batcheller,  came  May  1,  1856 ;  left  September  18,  1857. 
Frank  E.  Fletcher,  came  September  18,  1857;  left  October  9,  1857. 
Albert  A.  Davidson,  came  October  19,  1857;  left  June  18,  1864. 
Frank  S.  Scrirageour,  came  June  20,  1864;  still  in  office. 


CENTENARIANS  OF  GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 


195 


XV.— OFFICES  OF  THE  CEMETERY  IN  NEW  YORK. 

No.  8  Wall  Street,  from  August  1,  1839,  to  May  1,  1840. 
No.  58  Wall  Street,  from  May  1,  1840,  to  August  1,  1841. 
No.  40  Broadway,  August  1,  1842,  to  May  1,  1844. 
No.  20  Wall  Street,  changed  to  39  Wall  Street,  from  May  1,  1844,  to 
May  1,  1849. 

No.  64  Broadway,  from  May  1,  1849,  to  May  1,  1851. 
No.  53  Broadway,  from  May  1,  1851,  to  May  1,  1857. 
No.  30  Broadway,  from  May  1,  1857,  and  still  occupied. 


XVI. — CENTENARIANS  OF  GREEN-WOOD  CEMETERY. 

Among  the  one  hundred  and  five  thousand  persons  buried  in  Green- 
Wood,  only  eight  had  passed  the  period  of  one  hundred  years.  Here  is 
the  list : — 

Charlotte  Menzell,  a  German  woman,  not  quite  one  hundred  and  one. 

Henry  Gibson,  of  New  York,  one  hundred  and  one. 

Margaret  Van  Duzen,  of  New  Jersey,  one  hundred  and  two. 

David  Davis,  of  New  Jersey,  had  he  stayed  a  month  longer,  would  have 
been  one  hundred  and  five. 

Ann  Taylor,  an  Hibernian,  somewhat  over  one  hundred  and  five. 

"Mary,"  a  Portuguese,  whose  surname  had  probably  long  been  forgot- 
ten, even  by  herself,  had  reached  the  age  of  one  hundred  and  eight. 

Hannah  Annkanken,  of  New  York,  was  one  hundred  and  thirteen. 

Sarah  W.  Kaims  was  born  in  this  country  in  the  year  1737,  and  lived 
till  1854;  her  age  was  one  hundred  and  seventeen  years,  three  months,  and 
sixteen  days.  This  venerable  dame  belonged  to  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church — gave  birth  to  twenty-two  children — and  retained  her  sprightliness 
to  the  last. 


196 


APPENDIX. 


XVII.— MONUMENTS  AND  TOMBS  IN  GREEN-WOOD. 

The  enumeration  which  follows  was  made  four  years  ago.  During 
this  period  many  additions  have  been  made.  To  ascertain  the  exact 
number  now,  it  would  probably  be  necessary  to  make  a  new  count  of  the 
whole. 

The  term  "monument,"  applies  here  to  structures  usually  of  consider- 
able size,  and  differing  in  form  from  the  slab  and  the  headstone.  The 
"monumental  headstone "  has  a  foundation  or  base,  and,  in  many  cases,  is 
large,  massive,  and  highly  ornamental.  All  other  memorials  come  under 
the  appellation  of  "grave-stones." 

Monuments  .....  1,801 
Monumental  Headstones  ....  822 
Grave-Stones       .  .  .  .  .  10,746 

Hill-side  Vaults  .....  150 
Underground  Vaults  ....  230 
Vaults  in  Vine  Dell    .  .         .         .  .30 

There  is  one  inquiry  which  some  of  our  readers  will  certainly  make, 
and  which  we  cannot  answer.  They  would  like  to  know — or  we  greatly 
mistake — just  how  much  all  these  excavations,  and  structures,  and  enclo- 
sures cost.  The  curiosity  is  natural.  We  have  ourselves  had  the  same 
desire. 

These  expenditures  have  been  made  by  many  thousand  individuals,  who 
rendered  no  account  of  their  cost  to  the  officers  of  the  Cemetery.  In  not 
a  few  cases,  probably,  no  account  was  kept,  or,  if  kept,  could  not  now  be 
found.  Indeed,  the  persons  themselves,  in  numerous  instances,  are  no 
longer  here.  To  get  the  facts,  even  imperfectly,  it  would  be  necessary  to 
call  on  some  ten  thousand  individuals. 

A  careful  examination  of  the  whole  ground,  and  an  appraisal  on  the 
spot  by  persons  familiar  with  the  processes  and  cost  of  stone  and  iron  work, 
of  excavation,  and  of  masonry,  might  enable  us  to  make  a  plausible  guess, 
and  that  is  about  all  that  can  be  said.  Possibly  some  such  estimate  may 
yet  be  attempted.  One  assertion  we  may  safely  make,  and  it  is  all  we 
shall  now  say  on  the  point  in  hand — the  cost  of  the  private  improvements 
in  Green-Wood  amounts  to  millions. 


CORRESPONDENCE,  ETC. 


197 


XVIII. — CORRESPONDENCE  RELATING  TO  INTERMENTS  OF 
SOLDIERS  IN  GREEN-WOOD. 

Letter  to  Governor  Morgan. 

Office  of  the  Green-Wood  Cemetery,  No.  30  Broadway,  ) 

New  York,  May  31,  1862.  \ 

To  His  Excellency  Governor  Morgan: 

Sir  : — I  am  instructed  by  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  this  Institution  to 
apprise  you,  that  at  a  meeting  held  on  the  28th  instant  they  resolved  to 
appropriate  ground  in  the  Cemetery,  without  charge,  for  the  interment  of 
all  the  soldiers  of  this  State  who  shall  have  fallen  in  battle,  or  who  shall 
have  died  from  wounds  received  in  battle,  or  from  sickness  or  accident 
incurred  while  on  duty  during  the  present  war. 

This  appropriation  has  been  made  without  restriction  as  to  residence, 
with  the  view  to  afford  the  relatives  and  friends  of  the  soldiers  residing  in 
different  parts  of  the  State,  as  well  as  those  living  in  this  vicinity,  an  op- 
portunity to  select  Green- Wood  as  a  place  of  sepulchre  for  their  dead,  if 
for  any  reason  they  prefer  to  do  so. 

Considerations  of  patriotism  and  benevolence,  to  which  the  Trustees 
hope  they  are  not  insensible,  naturally  prompt  to  this  appropriation ;  but  a 
grateful  appreciation  of  the  liberality  of  the  Legislature  of  this  State,  to 
which  this  Institution  is  indebted,  not  only  for  its  corporate  existence,  but 
also  for  repeated  acts  conferring  upon  it  important  powers  and  beneficent 
privileges,  likewise  influences  the  Trustees  in  no  small  degree  to  make  the 
provision  referred  to  above. 

I  beg  your  Excellency  to  take  such  order  in  the  matter  as  you  may 
deem  proper.  Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

Robert  Ray, 
President  of  Green- Wood  Cemetery. 


Governor  Morgan's  Reply. 

Executive  Department,  Albany,  June  4,  1862. 

Robert  Ray,  Esq.,  President  Green-Wood  Cemetery,  No.  30  Broadway, 

New  York ; 

Sir  : — I  have  this  day  received  your  communication,  apprising  me  that 
the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Green-Wood  Cemetery  had,  by  resolution, 
appropriated  ground  in  the  Cemetery,  without  charge  or  restriction,  for 
27 


198 


APPENDIX. 


the  interment  of  all  the  soldiers  of  this  State  who  shall  have  fallen  in 
battle,  or  died  from  wounds,  or  from  sickness,  or  accident  incurred  while 
on  duty  during  the  present  war. 

I  esteem  it  a  privilege  of  no  usual  importance  to  accept,  on  behalf  of 
the  soldiers  of  this  State,  their  friends,  and  the  State  at  large,  your  timely 
and  generous  donation.  The  honors  of  a  nation  await  those  whose  lives 
are  sacrificed  in  its  cause,  and  it  is  most  fitting  that  a  spot  so  accessible 
and  beautiful  as  Green- Wood  should  hold  all  that  belongs  to  mortality  of 
those  soldiers,  dying  in  the  service,  whose  friends  and  the  authorities  shall 
select  that  as  a  place  of  sepulchre. 

I  welcome  your  beneficence  as  an  earnest  of  the  jealous  care  with  which 
the  future  will  preserve  the  fame  of  the  upholders  of  the  Union  in  this 
great  struggle  for  national  existence. 

The  necessary  arrangements  in  respect  to  interments  there  will  be 
made,  and  an  order  for  that  purpose  will  be  issued. 

I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

E.  D.  Morgan. 


XIX.— BY-LAWS. 

Ap.ticle  First. — Of  the  Officers. 

Section  1.  The  officers  of  the  Company  shall  consist  of  a  President, 
Vice-President,  Secretary,  and  Comptroller,  and  of  a  Standing  Committee, 
to  consist  of  four  Trustees,  in  addition  to  the  Comptroller,  who  shall  be  a 
member  of  the  Committee  ex  officio.  The  officers  shall  be  elected  annually 
by  ballot,  but  may  be  removed  from  office  at  any  duly  convened  meeting 
of  the  Trustees,  by  a  vote  of  two-thirds  of  the  whole  number  of  Trustees ; 
and  as  often  as  any  vacancy  shall  occur,  an  election  may  be  made  at  any 
stated  or  special  meeting  of  the  Trustees. 

Sec.  2.  The  President,  or  in  his  absence  the  Vice-President,  shall  pre- 
side at  the  meetings  of  the  Board  of  Trustees ;  and  if  both  be  absent,  the 
Board  shall  appoint  a  Chairman,  who  shall  preside  at  the  meeting  for 
which  he  shall  be  appointed.  The  presiding  officer,  in  case  of  an  equal 
division  in  the  Board,  shall  have  a  casting  vote.  The  President  shall  be 
a  member  (ex  officio)  of  all  standing  and  special  committees  appointed  by 
the  Board. 

Seo.  3.  In  case  of  a  vacancy  of  the  office  of  President,  all  the  powers 


BY-LAWS. 


199 


and  duties  appertaining  to  that  office  shall,  during  such  vacancy,  devolve 
on  and  be  exercised  by  the  Vice-President. 

Sec.  4.  The  Secretary  shall  keep  minutes  of  the  proceedings  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees. 

Sec.  5.  The  Comptroller  shall  have  the  custody  of  the  seal  of  the  Cor- 
poration, and  also  of  its  funds,  vouchers,  books  of  account,  title-deeds  and 
papers,  documents,  and  effects.  It  shall  be  his  duty  to  collect  and  receive 
all  moneys,  and  to  deposit,  pay,  and  disburse,  and  otherwise  appropriate 
its  funds,  as  directed  or  authorized  by  the  Board  of  Trustees.  Also,  an- 
nually to  render  accounts  of  his  receipts  and  expenditures,  and  at  the  same 
time  to  furnish  a  general  statement  of  the  affairs  of  the  Company,  which 
accounts  and  statements  shall  be  rendered  at  the  stated  or  any  special 
meeting  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  next  preceding  the  annual  meeting,  and 
shall  be  previously  examined,  audited,  and  reported  on,  by  the  Standing 
Committee.  All  the  funds  of  the  Corporation  shall  be  deposited  to  the  credit 
of  the  Company  in  such  bank  or  banks  as  shall  from  time  to  time  be 
designated  by  the  Board  of  Trustees,  and  the  same  shall  be  drawn  out 
only  on  the  check  or  draft  signed  by  the  Comptroller,  and  countersigned 
by  the  President  or  Chairman  of  the  Standing  Committee. 

Sec  6.  The  Standing  Committee  shall  be  charged  with  the  general 
care  and  management  of  the  property  and  grounds  of  the  Company,  and 
shall  have  power  to  make  contracts  for  the  improvement  and  embellish- 
ment of  the  said  grounds,  and  arrangements  for  the  proper  regulation 
thereof,  and  may  employ  all  necessary  superintendents  and  agents  for  that 
purpose,  under  and  subject  to  such  directions,  general  or  special,  as  the 
Board  of  Trustees  may  from  time  to  time  prescribe.  The  Standing  Com- 
mittee shall  elect  their  own  Chairman,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees  ;  and  a  concurrence  of  at  least  three  members  shall  be 
necessary  to  give  validity  to  any  act  of  the  committee. 

Sec.  7.  All  elections  of  officers,  except  to  fill  vacancies,  shall  be  made 
at  the  stated  meeting  of  the  Trustees,  to  be  held  on  the  second  Wednesday 
in  December  in  each  year ;  but  if  no  election  be  made  on  such  day,  the 
several  incumbents  then  in  office  shall  continue  to  exercise  the  duties  and 
functions  of  their  respective  offices  until  an  election  takes  place. 

Sec  8.  All  other  agents  and  servants,  to  be  appointed  by  the  Board  of 
Trustees,  shall  hold  their  offices  at  its  pleasure. 


200 


APPENDIX. 


Aeticle  Second. — Of  the  Meetings  of  the  Trustees. 

Section  1.  The  Trustees  shall  hold  stated  meetings  on  the  second  Wed- 
nesday in  each  of  the  months  of  March,  June,  and  December,  in  each  and 
every  year;  and  a  majority  of  the  votes  of  all  the  Trustees  present  shall  be 
necessary  to  give  effect  to  any  act  of  the  Board. 

Sec.  2.  Special  meetings  may  be  called  by  the  President,  or,  in  case  of 
his  absence  or  inability,  by  the  Vice-President ;  and  it  shall  be  his  duty 
to  call  such  special  meetings  upon  the  written  requisition  of  any  three 
Trustees. 

Sec.  3.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Secretary  to  give  due  notice,  in 
writing,  of  every  meeting ;  and  in  regard  to  the  annual  meeting  of  the 
Corporation,  by  publishing  such  notice  thereof,  as  is  required  by  the 
Charter. 

Sec  4.  The  annual  meeting  of  the  Corporation  shall  be  held  on  the 
second  Wednesday  of  March  in  each  year. 

Article  Tiiird. — Of  tiie  Property  of  the  Corporation. 

Section  1.  All  Burial-Lots  shall  be  designated,  surveyed,  sold,  and 
conveyed,  under  the  direction  of  the  Standing  Committee ;  and  no  more 
than  eight  Lots  shall  be  sold  or  conveyed  to  any  one  person,  without  the 
previous  authority  of  the  Board  of  Trustees. 

Sec.  2.  All  instruments  under  the  seal  of  the  Corporation  shall  be 
signed  by  the  President,  and  countersigned  and  registered  by  the  Comp- 
troller or  Chairman  of  the  Standing  Committee,  which  instrument  shall 
be  issued  on  the  special  authority  of  the  Board  of  Trustees.  But  so  much 
of  this  section  as  requires  such  special  authority,  shall  not  apply  to  Con- 
veyances for  Burial-Lots  directed  to  be  made  by  the  Standing  Committee, 
in  pursuance  of  the  powers  conferred  by  the  next  preceding  section. 

Article  Fourth. — Alteration  of  the  By-Laws. 

Section  1.  These  By-Laws  may  be  repealed,  altered,  or  amended,  at 
the  next  stated  meeting  of  the  Trustees  after  such  repeal,  alteration,  or 
amendment  shall  have  been  proposed  and  entered  on  the  minutes,  but  not 
otherwise,  unless  by  the  unanimous  consent  of  all  the  Trustees  present  at 
any  meeting  when  such  repeal,  alteration,  or  amendment  shall  be  first 
proposed. 


ANNUAL  SALES  OF  LOTS. 


201 


XX.— AXNUAL   SALES  OF  LOTS. 


Pbior  to  1st  December,  1843    528 

During  the  year  ending  1st  December,  1844     ....  329 

"  "  M  1845  .....  338 

M  "  "  1846     ....  402 

"  "  "  1847   633 

"  «  "  1848     ....  670 

"  "  "  1849    736 

During  the  year  ending  31st  December,  1850     ....  872 

"  "  "  1851    973 

"  "  "  1852     ....  1,150 

"  "  "  1853    1,143 

a  "  u  1854     ....  968 

«  "  u  1855    875 

"  "  "  1856     ....  802 

u  "  "  1857    624 

"  "  "  1858     ....  479 

"  M  "  1859    498 

"  "  "  1860     ....  695 

«  "  M  1861    524 

"  "  "  1862     ....  553 

"  "  "  1863    831 

"  «  "  1864     ....  951 


Total  15,574 


202 


APPENDIX. 


XXI.— PEICES   OF  LOTS. 


From  1839  to  1st  March,  1848  : 

Single  Lots  $100  each 

In  parcels  of  four  or  more  80  each 

The  cost  of  grading  to  be  charged  extra. 
From  1st  March,  1848,  to  1st  July,  1857: 

Single  Lots  $110  each 

In  parcels  of  four  or  more  90  each 

The  cost  of  grading  was  included  in  the  above  prices. 
From  1st  July,  1857,  to  1st  April,  1861 : 

Single  Lots,  grading  included  $130  each 

In  parcels  of  four  or  more  110  each 

From  1st  April,  1861,  to  1st  April,  1863: 

Single  Lots,  grading  included,  lowest  price  ....       $150  each 

In  choice  locations,  highest  price   250  each 

In  parcels  of  four  or  more   20  less 

From  1st  April,  1863,  to  1st  April,  1864 : 

Single  Lots,  graded  $150  each 

Ilighest  price  (Chapel  Hill  Lots)   500  each 

In  other  choice  locations   300  each 

No  deduction  for  groups  of  lots. 

From  1st  April,  1864,  to  1st  March,  1865: 

Single  Lots,  lowest  price  $150  each 

Highest  price,  except  lots  on  Chapel  Hill  ....  400  each 
From  1st  March,  1865: 

Single  Lots,  lowest  price  $150  each 

Highest  price   500  each 


AJNNUAL  RECEIPTS  FOE  SALES  OF  LOTS. 


203 


XXII.— ANNUAL  RECEIPTS  FOR  SALES  OF  LOTS. 


Feom  1st  July,  1839,  to  1st  July,             1840  .    "  .       .  $3,79100 

From  1st  January,  1842,  to  loth  August,  1842  .       .       .       14,331  72 

From  15th  August,  1842,  to  1st  December,  1842  .      .      .     4,109  00 

For  the  year  ending  1st  December,          1843  .       .       .       10,462  91 

"              "                "                 1844  .       .       .    22,420  23 

1845  .       .       .       31,020  04 

"             "                "                1846  .       .       .    28,437  04 

"              "               "                1847  .       .       .      49,070  26 

"                "                 1848  .       .       .    54,461  13 

"              "                "                 1849  .       .       .       61,645  54 

For  the  year  ending  31st  December,        1850  .       .       .    76,906  28 

1851  .       .       .       74,537  47 

"              "               "                1852  .       .       .    97,427  29 

"              "               "                1853  .       .       .       93,607  46 

"              "               "                1854  .       .       .    78,987  54 

"             "               "                1855  .       .       .       72,011  99 

"                 1856  .       .       .    60,546  38 

"             "                "                1857  .       .       .       54,486  83 

"              "                u                 1858  .       .       .    46,560  13 

"              "                "                 1859  .       .       .       46,642  56 

"              "               "                1860  .       .       .    59,855  71 

"              "                "                 1861  .       .       .       58,262  46 

"             "               "                1862  .       .       .    63,171  71 

"             "               "                1863  .      .       .     117,183  73 

"               "                1864  .       .       .  151,347  14 


Total  $1,431,283  55 


204: 


APPENDIX. 


XXIII. — ANNUAL  NUMBER  OF  INTERMENTS. 


Fkom  5th  September  to  1st  December,     1840  ....  20 

For  the  year  ending  1st  December,  1841       .      .      .      .  61 

"  "  "  1842  ....  81 

"  "  "  1843       ....  199 

"  "  "  1844  ....  354 

"  "  "  1845       ...  607 

"  «  «  1846  ....  812 

"  "  "  1847       ....  1,297 

"  "  "  1848  ....  2,025 

"  u  "  1849       ....  3,291 

For  the  year  ending  31st  December,  1850  ....  3,789 

"  «  "  1851       ..       ..  5,244 

"  "  "  1852  ....  5,933 

"  "  »  1853      ....  7,187 

"  "  "  1854  ....  8,084 

«  "  "  1855       ....  6,592 

"  M  "  1856  ....  6,571 

"  M  "  1857      ....  6,779 

"  "  "  1858  ....  7,779 

"  "  1859       ....  6,590 

u  "  u  1860  ....  8,033 

"  "  M  1861       ....  6,545 

41  "  u  1862  ....  6,387 

"  "  "  1863       .       .      .      .  7,331 

"  "  "  1864  ....  7,298 


Total   108,889 


ANNUAL  RECEIPTS  FOE  GRAVES  IN  PUBLIC  LOTS.  205 


XXIV. — ANNUAL  EECEIPTS  FOR  GRAVES  IN  PUBLIC  LOTS. 


Foe  the  year  ending  1st  December,  1842  .      .      .       $15  00 

"  "  "  1843  ...          133  00 

"  "  "  1844  ...       304  00 

"  "  "  1845  ...          444  00 

"  "  "  184G  .       .       .     1,105  00 

"  "  "  1847  .       .       .        2,506  00 

"  "  "  1848  .       .       .     4,177  00 

"  "  "  1849  .       .       .        7,903  00 

For  the  year  ending  31st  December,  1850  .      .      .     7,792  50 

'*  «  "  "  1851  .       .       .       12,352  00 

"  11  "  1852  .       .       .    14,540  00 

"  "  "  1853  .       .       .       16,072  00 

"  "  "  1854  .       .       .    17,444  50 

"  "  1855  .       .       .       12,836  50 

"  "  "  1856  .       .       .    13,532  00 

"  "  "  1857  .       .       .       12,417  00 

"  "  M  1858  .       .       .    11,515  50 

u  "  "  1859  .       .       .       11,229  00 

"  "  "  1860  .       .       .    12,905  50 

"  "  "  1861  .       .       .       11,207  00 

"  "  "  1862  .       .       .    11,663  00 

"  "  "  1863  .       .       .       14,629  50 

M  "  "  1864  .       .       .    15,359  00 


Total 

28 


$212,082  00 


206  APPENDIX. 


XXV.— ANNUAL  RECEIPTS  FOR  OPENING  GRAVES  AND 
VAULTS. 


to  1st  December, 

18-14 

$751  00 

the  year  ending  1st  December, 

1845  . 

1,390  00 

u 

a 

1846 

2,036  75 

u 

a 

a 

1847  . 

3,424  25 

u 

it 

a 

1848 

5,452  75 

u 

a 

a 

1849  . 

8,541  75 

the  year  ending  Biejt  December, 

±00\J  • 

u 

a 

a 

1851  . 

12,919  25 

a 

a 

1852 

.    16,408  63 

a 

it 

tt 

1853  . 

18,128  00 

a 

« 

u 

1854 

.    20,481  51 

a 

a 

a 

1855  . 

17,551  75 

(C 

u 

a 

185G 

.    18,062  00 

l< 

(( 

a 

1857  . 

17,596  25 

It 

(( 

(( 

1858 

.    16,748  25 

u 

l( 

u 

1859  . 

16,929  00 

u 

11 

a 

I860 

.    19,561  00 

a 

a 

a 

1861  . 

17,112  00 

a 

a 

u 

1862 

.    16,439  75 

a 

a 

H 

1863  . 

19,567  00 

u 

it 

a 

1864 

.    26,396  50 

,    $285,321  25 

TOTAL  ANNUAL  RECEIPTS,  EXCLUSIVE  OF  LOANS.  207 


XXVI. — TOTAL  ANNUAL  RECEIPTS,  EXCLUSIVE  OF  LOANS. 

Feom  1st  July,  1839,  to  1st  July,  1840    .       .       .       $3,791  00 

From  1st  July  1840,  to  31st  December,  1841 


the  year  ending  1st  December, 

1842  . 

18,455  72 

ti 

a 

a 

1843 

.    13,003  70 

a 

u 

a 

1844  . 

26,963  01 

if 

a 

it 

1845 

.    36,682  65 

a 

ti 

it 

184G  . 

,   .       38,022  86 

II 

u 

a 

1847 

.    61,467  00 

a 

a  * 

a 

1848  . 

70,946  36 

it 

it 

a 

1849 

.    81,566  79 

the  year  ending  31st  December, 

JLC50U      .  , 

Oft  ftOfi  *7K 
.         yo,UJO  to 

it 

a 

<( 

1851 

.  104,616  04 

II 

tl 

11 

1852  . 

.      133,830  19 

it 

a 

a 

1853 

.  137,735  30 

II 

a 

a 

1854  . 

.     125,066  49 

a 

ti 

u 

1855 

.  108,851  83 

U 

a 

u 

185G  . 

.     100,553  14 

it 

it 

it 

1857 

.    93,905  24 

a 

a 

II 

1858  . 

88,541  04 

if 

a 

M 

1859 

.    90,931  23 

It 

a 

It 

18G0  . 

.     106,538  75 

« 

a 

II 

1801 

.  110,398  67 

a 

it 

II 

18G2  . 

.     106,603  86 

If 

a 

tic 

18G3 

.  170,006  80 

it 

u 

II 

18G4  . 

.     219,894  16 

$2,146,468  58 

208  APPENDIX. 


XXVII.— ANNUAL  EXPENDITURES  FOE  LABOR. 


In  1839  to  1st  July, 

1840  . 

$3,134  55 

In  1841  to  15th  April, 

1842 

388  82 

In  1842  to  1st  December, 

1842  . 

416  75 

For  the  year  ending  1st  December, 

1843 

.     2,121  79 

For  Labor  in 

1840  paid  in 

1843  . 

788  85 

For  Labor  in 

1840  and  1841  paid  in 

1844 

.     1,413  18 

For  the  year  ending  1st  December, 

1844  . 

6,201  02 

tt 

1845 

.    11,656  23 

it 

a 

it 

1846  . 

13,774  22 

u 

tt 

u 

1847 

.    20,682  31 

(t 

it 

tt 

1848  . 

35,892  32 

tt 

a 

a 

1849 

.    39,026  70 

For  the  year 

ending  31st  December, 

1850  . 

58,451  18 

1851 

.    54,281  04 

tt 

tt 

tt 

1852  . 

57,454  30 

tl 

tt 

u 

1853 

.    72,429  03 

ti 

tt 

u 

1854  . 

69,498  82 

tc 

tt 

a 

1855 

.    74,520  21 

a 

tt 

it 

1856  . 

59,160  22 

a 

a 

u 

1857 

.    55,591  55 

ti 

tt 

tc 

1858  . 

52,501  34 

tc 

tt 

tt 

1859 

.    50,427  58 

u 

tt 

ct 

1860  . 

61,628  77 

tt 

tt 

tt 

1861 

.    70,254  57 

it 

tt 

(( 

1862  . 

65,359  17 

tt 

tt 

tt 

1863 

.    76,792  52 

tt 

tt 

tt 

1864  . 

.     101,290  03 

Total  . 

.     $1,115,137  07 

ANNUAL  EXPENDITURES,  EXCLUSIVE  OF  LABOE.  209 


XXVIII. — ANNUAL  EXPENDITURES  FOR  IMPROVEMENTS, 
EXCLUSIVE  OF  LABOR. 


In  1839  to  1st  July, 

1840  . 

$446  01 

For  the  year  ending 

1st  December, 

1843 

.     1,564  59 

a  a 

1844  . 

1,592  58 

li  a 

1845 

.     2,929  22 

U  fit 

1846  . 

2,236  11 

fit  It 

1847 

.     4,506  85 

a  ct 

1848  . 

4,654  61 

(I  u 

t( 

1849 

.     8,271  32 

For  the  year  ending 

31st  December, 

1850  . 

19,341  75 

u 

1851 

3,820  00 

a  tfi 

1852  . 

3,844  86 

u  u 

tl 

1853 

.    10,817  40 

a  fit 

a 

1854  . 

10,475  07 

fit  11 

a 

1855 

.     3,410  97 

a                   fit  > 

u 

1856  . 

10,189  80 

u  u 

a 

1857 

.     2,920  30 

U  <( 

a 

1858  . 

1,757  85 

a  (( 

tt 

1859 

.    22,189  99 

t<  a 

u 

1860  . 

9,404  77 

a  a 

<t 

1861 

.    57,044  35 

ti  a 

a 

1862  . 

37,438  62 

(4  fit 

a 

1863 

.    20,544  18 

a 

1864  . 

4,563  14 

Total 

210 


APPENDIX. 


XXIX.— ANNUAL  EXPENDITURES  FOR  CONTINGENCIES. 


In  1839  to  1st  July, 

1840  . 

$651  36 

From  1st  July,  1840,  to  1st  February, 

1841 

188  93 

From  1st  February, 

1841,  to  1st  December 

1842  . 

173  34 

For  the  year  ending 

1st  December, 

1843 

498  26 

it  It 

» 

1844  . 

653  23 

u  u 

C( 

1845  . 

801  53 

a  it 

it 

1846  . 

.     1,082  63 

a  u 

u 

1847 

4,506  85 

a  u 

u 

1848  . 

.     4,995  93 

((  u 

u 

1849 

6,557  92 

lor  the  year  ending: 

01st  December, 

1850  / 

.     7,287  50 

a 

1851 

8,605  29 

u  u 

1852  . 

.    ll,80o  00 

u  u 

u 

1853 

11,823  10 

u  u 

u 

1854  . 

.    11,166  49 

a  a 

u 

1855 

9,949  36 

it  a 

1856  . 

.    10,189  80 

a  a 

a 

1857 

10,357  01 

a  tc 

u 

1858  . 

.    10,762  40 

a  it 

u 

1859 

9,950  10 

It  u 

u 

1860  . 

.    10,952  33 

u 

1861 

12,103  0G 

11  u 

u 

1862  . 

.    12,614  63 

it 

1863 

15,310  17 

l<  « 

« 

1864  . 

.    20,084  06 

Total 

TOTAL  ANNUAL  EXPENDITURES,  EXCLUSIVE  OF  LOANS.  211 


XXX. — TOTAL  ANNUAL  EXPENDITURES,  EXCLUSIVE  OF 

LOANS. 


Feom  1st  July,  1839,  to  1st  July,                1840  .       .       $7,800  86 

From  1st  July,  1840,  to  1st  February,          1841  .       .       .     2,317  55 

From  1st  February,  1841,  to  loth  April,       1842  .       .           937  14 

From  15tli  April  1842,  to  15th  August,        1842  .       .       .    18,739  66 

From  15th  August,  1842,  to  1st  December,  1842  .       .        1,827  59 

For  the  year  ending  1st  December,             1843  .       .       .    15,122  06 

"              "               "                    1844  .       .       27,571  21 

1845  .       .       .    36,200  79 

"                11                     1846  .       .       36,142  33 

1847  .       .       .    45,843  49 

1848  .       .       74,314  37 

1849  .       .       .    83,557  55 
For  the  year  ending  31st  December,            1850  .       .       97,933  45 

"                    1851  .       .       .    96,702  22 

"               u                    1852  .       .     117,850  04 

1853  .       .       .  120,699  87 

"                u                     1854  .       .      113,591  15 

1855  .       .       .  106,756  47 

1856  .       .       84,523  11 
"                    1857  .       .       .    72,945  24 

1858  .       .       77,516  04 

1859  .       .       .  116,315  13 
"                "                     1860  .       .       99,412  41 

"             "               "                    1861  .       .       .  146,855  97 

1862  .       .     145,292  28 

1863  .       .       .  127,617  48 

1864  .       .     141,669  57 


Total  $2,016,055  03 


212  APPENDIX. 


XXXI. — TOTAL  KEOEIPTS  AND  EXPENDITURES,  AS  PER 
FINANCIAL  REPORTS. 


Receipts. 

Fbom  1839  to  31st  Dec,  1860  .  .  .  $1,731,934  99 
In  1861   179,373  67 

1862    142,953  86 

1863    .174,694  30 

1864    269,894  16 


Expenditures. 

81,731,496  02 
176,855  97 
145,292  28 
172,617  48 
271,669  57 


$2,498,850  98        $2,497,931  32 


From  the  following  sources : — 
Cemetery  lots  .    .    .    $1,431,283  55 
Graves  in  public  lots    .     212,082  00 
Opening  graves  and  vaults  285,321  25 

Loans,  etc   352,254  00 

Other  sources  ....    217,910  18 


For  the  following  purposes : — 
Improvements  $243,964  34 
.    .    1,115,137  07 


Labor  .  . 
Land  .  .  . 
Contingencies 
Loans,  etc.  . 
Other  sources 


Cash  on  hand, 
Dec.  31,  1864, 


193,070  28 
.     476,376  09 
178,596  69 

$2,497,931  32 

919  66 


$2,498,850  98 


$2,498,850  98 


CEMETERY  BEILDIXG3,  ETO. 


213 


XXXII. — CEMETERY  BUILDINGS,  ETO. 

Original  Entrance. 

Rustic  Lodge  and  Tower,  erected  in  1843.    Cost      .       .       .    $527  62 
Altered  and  enlarged  in  1845,  and  gateway  changed  from  the 
northerly  to  the  southerly  side  of  the  Lodge.    Cost  of 
alterations  and  enlargements   925  33 

81,452  95 

Gateway  and  small  Tower  erected  in  1845.    Cost     $149  95 

Visitors'  room   229  16         379  11 

Total  cost  $1,832  06 

The  above  entrance  was  closed  in  1863,  and  the  buildings  removed. 

Western  Entrance. 

Buildings  commenced  in  1849  and  completed  in  1850.    Cost  $12,582  67 
Buildings  removed  west  of  5th  avenue  in  1859,  and  archway 
commenced,  which  was  completed  in  1860.    Cost  of  re- 
movals, alterations  and  archway   21,778  94 

Southern  Entrance. 

Lodge  commenced  in  1848  and  completed  in  1849.    Cost     .        2,416  46 
Present  gateway  and  Lodge  formed  part  of  the  original  west- 
ern entrance,  and  were  removed  in  1861,  at  the  cost  of   .  123  98 

dSortliern  Entrance. 

Gateway  and  buildings  were  commenced  in  1861  and 
completed  in  1863. 

Cost  of  Gateway   60,221  24 

"     Porter's  Lodge   4,886  10 

"     Superintendent  of  Interment's  house        .       .       .  4,019  34 

"     Stable  v  .       .      .      .  2,719  62 

"     Tool-house        .       .       .       *      .       .       .       .  2,843  88 

$74,690  18 

29 


2U 


APPENDIX. 


Gardeners'  Lodges. 

Lodge  on  Ocean  Hill,  commenced  in  1844  and  completed  in 

1845.    Cost   $'832  15 

Lodge  on  Battle  Hill,  commenced  in  1845  and 

completed  in  1846.    Cost       ....  $1,056  11 

Removed  and  improved  in  1860  and  1861.    Cost,     1,797  05        2,853  16 


Lodge  near  western  entrance,  for  Superintendent  of  the  work- 
men, erected  in  1849.    Cost   1,452  95 

Receiving  Tonibs. 


Receiving  Tomb  A,  lot  282,  on  Sylvan  Cliff,  was  purchased  in  1842. 


Receiving  Tomb  B,  lot  285,  on  Willow  Avenue,  was  built  in 
1844,  and  removed  in  1852,  to  make  room  for  a  larger 
structure.    Cost       .  $663  45 

Receiving  Tomb  C,  lot  1148,  on  Willow  Avenue,  was  com- 
menced in  1847  and  completed  in  1848.    Cost        .       .        1,970  79 

Receiving  Tomb  D,  lots  3891  and  4259,  on  Willow  Avenue, 

was  commenced  in  1852  and  completed  in  1853.    Cost,      14,593  16 

Iron  Bailing  Inclosure. 

Iron  imported  in  1859,  erection  commenced  in  1861  and  com- 
pleted in  1863 ;  length  of  fence  4822  feet,  and  cost,  in- 
cluding stone  posts,  gates,  &c.   20,724  90 

Water-  Works. 

Commenced  in  1850,  and  were  in  operation  the  same  year. 

Cost  of  Reservoir  '  $584  06 

L<     Iron  railing  around  the  Reservoir        .       .       .  456  75 

"     Wooden  Engine-house  (burnt  in  1854)       .       .       .  685  39 

"     Iron  pipes,  hydrants,  stop-cocks.  &c.     .       .       .  2,719  74 

"     Cement  pipe   1,909  35 

"     Gutta  Percha  pipe   165  62 

Pumping  Engines,  Boilers,  &c   4,916  10 

"     Well   2,650  40 

"     Present  Engine-house   2,437  85 

"     Jets   330  04 

"     Repairs  of  Engine-house   515  47 


AVENUES,  PATHS,  HILLS,  ETC. 


215 


Cost  of  Fountain  on  Fountain  Hill   $770  68 

"     Repairs  of  Pumps,  &c   882  73 

"     Sundries   295  29 

Total  cost  to  31st  Dec,  1864    ....  $19,319  47 


XXXIII.— AVEXUES,  PATHS,  HILLS,  DELLS,  AXD  LAKES. 

Ave)iues. 

Aebor  Section  109 

Atlantic  107  to  120,  98 

Bayside  K  to  83 

Birch   96,  97,  76 

Border  19  to  7,  182  to  126 

Bay-view  X,  L,  124 

Cypress  160  to  182 

Central  84  to  97 

Chestnut  69  to  70 

Cornus   .  82 

Crescent  9 

Chapel   46,  47,  32 

Cherry  106 

Dell   95,  77,  73 

Dale  .       .       .   32,  26,  8 

Dawn  149  to  153 

Edgewood   60.  43,  58 

Elm    •   127,  126,  121,  118 

Forest  45  to  72 

Green-bough  105  to  81 

Grape  52  to  169 

Glen  25 

Grove  101  to  73 

Highland  K  to  91 

Hillock  h    .       .       .       35  to  24 

Lake  84  to  14 

Landscape  110  to  3 


216  APPENDIX. 

Lawn  65  to  57 

Locust     .       .  74  to  46 

Larch  96 

Magnolia  85,  86 

Meadow  93  to  122 

Maple   17  to  14 

Orchard   24,  11 

Oak-leaf  78,  95 

Oakwood  96  to  73 

Oak  ' .  44,  35,  21 

Pine   92,  93, 79 

Sylvan  18  to  36 

Sycamore  89  to  80 

Southwood  47  to  50 

Summit  31,  27,  8 

Sprnce  14 

Sassafras  145  to  181 

Tulip  12,  23 

Union  49  to  26 

Vernal  32  to  179 

Valley  65,  66 

Vine  75  to  165 

Vista  44  to  73 

Woodland     ........      55,  54 

Willow  89,  84 

Paths. 

Amaranthine  

Alpine  7 

Anemone  19 

Andean  8,  7 

Acacia  36,  35 

Amarinth   .  24,  25 

Andromeda  19,  16,  15,  14 

Azalea  47  to  50 

Acanthus  48 

Aster   .       .       .     64,  61 

Aspen  65,  60 


AVENUES,  PATHS,  HILLS,  ETC. 


89,  88, 

84 

94 

.  96, 

97 

Angelica 

75,  160, 

161 

.  58, 

44 

100, 

98 

169 

182 

99 

Bluff-side 

.       .       .  61, 

41 

Bay-side 

... 

.  107, 

108 

Bird  . 

83 

83 

.  80, 

79 

83, 

82 

Bay-view 

.       .       .  L, 

K. 

90,  91, 

92 

22 

Carnation  . 

.19, 

18 

.  56, 

46 

.  19, 

20 

.       .  16, 

15 

20 

Clethra  . 

41 

.  34, 

33 

.       .       .  54,  72, 

53 

.       .       .  62, 

40 

.       .       .  57, 

46 

Cliff 

.       .       .  42, 

43 

91 

.  68, 

57 

Crystal 

35, 

22 

.  68, 

57 

.       .       .  34, 

23 

Coreopsis 

47 

.       .       .  21,  20, 

15 

.       .       .  92, 

81 

APPENDIX. 


Cone  13 

Cherry   ...    29,  30 

Dawn   138,  99,  150 

Dale  48,  31 

Dew  60 

Dewy   .  .23 

Dell-wood         .   78 

Daffodil  46,  45 

Daisy  161,  74,  51 

Eglantine   62,  40,  41 

Evergreen  97,  76 

Emerald   .      .       .    77,  76 

Elder  161 

Edge-hill   138,  149,  150 

Euonymos  171,  172 

Elder-wood   27,  8 

Everglade  .  22,  13,  12 

Fern  90,  91 

Fountain   .       .       .  35,  34 

Fir  73,  72 

Flower  75,  76 

Furze   .       .     21,  22 

Grotto  23,  12 

Green-bank  124,  111 

Grape  31 

Glade  79,  70 

Grove   43,  44,  35 

Grassy   103,  104,  94 

Geranium   177,  180,  181 

Garland  7,  182 

Hill-side    65,  60,  61 

Hemlock  48 

Hyacinth  82,  81 

Holly   92,  93,  94 

Hawthorn   47,  48,  49 

Highwood  32,  25 

Hibiscus  •     .       .    24,  11 

Harebell  45 


AVENUES,  PATHS,  HILLS,  ETC. 


Hazel  .... 

.  51,  171,  178,  179 

Heath  

.    178,  177,  176 

Heliotrope 

170,  169 

Hill  

98,  150 

Jonquil  .... 

 28,  179 

.    75,  74 

.     118,  100 

Ivy  

29,  178 

68,  67,  58 

Lake-side  . 

39,  19,  20,  37,  38 

Lake-ridge 

18,  19,  20 

Laburnum 

.      73,  72,  78,  77 

Lupine  .... 

.             .       69,  70,  79 

.    2-1,  11,  10 

 93 

Lily  

 100 

.  "     .      46,  33 

 31 

 55 

 26 

Mountain  . 

 63,  64 

19,  16 

 lfc,  15 

 68,  69 

Monarda  .... 

.    53,  52,  50 

Margin  .... 

110,  O,  86,  63 

 104 

 41,  38 

 16,  15 

Olive  .... 

182,  181 

Oval  .... 

 14 

 96 

 39,  1£ 

220 


APPENDIX. 


Peony   160,  159,  162,  163 

Pastoral  19,  16,  15 

Poppy  84 

Pinus  79 

Pine-leaf  94,  79 

Phlox   24,  33,  25 

Privet  45 

Pansy  56,  57 

Persimmon  57,  45 

Prospect  24,  12,  1 

Petunia  ........  160,  161,  170 

Pilgrim   .       .     177,  178 

Eidge   65,  66,  67 

Eose  .   80,  79,  70 

Eosy  56 

Eosemary  24,  25 

Eill  34,  23 

Eavine   .  36,  35 

Rural  20 

Rue  

Rush  101 

Eeed  35 

Serpentine  22,  23 

Sweetbrier  29,  28 

Spirea  .94 

Shady  20,  21 

Sylvan  .......  ^    »  . 

Sweet-gum        .   •   .       .       .       .  .    88,  89,  90 

Steep-side  42 

Spray  35,  34 

Strawberry   84,  65,  66 

Sumac  81,  82,  83 

Syringa   .  K,  108 

Snowberry   44,  34,  45 

Sunset   .       61,  62,  40 

Saffron   163,  162,  170 

Snowdrop   173,  172 

Thorn   32,  25,  26 


AVENUES,  PATHS,  HILLS,  ETC. 

Tulip  12,  11 

Turf  13,  12 

Under-wood  41 

Union      .       .  14 

Yale   65,  66,  67 

Vapor  37,  20 

Verbena  25,  10 

Vine   121,  118,  100,  98,  75 

Vine-leaf  97 

Vista      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .    70,  71 

Violet  54 

Vision    .    *  11,  2 

Verdant  .111 

Warrior  124.123,  112 

Wood-shade   87,  88,  110 

Woodland  54 

Willow      .       .       .       .  69,  56 

Water-side   .       84,  65,  64 

Wood-skirt   87,  85,  88 

Wood-bank  84 

Wood-side  46,  47 

Woodbiue   78,  77,  72 

Wintergreen   73,  77,  72 

White-oak    .......       44,  35,  22 

Winterberry  44,  35 

Woody  42,  43 

Wood-girt       .      .      .  -     .      .      .       .       .  .23 

Yew     .      .      .  76,  74 

Zephyr  1 09,  173,  172 

Hills. 

Alpine  7 

Aspen  60,  65 

Bay-grove  90 

Battle  107,  111,  112,  123,  124 

Birch   .       .       .  9<5 

Button-wood  80 

Butternut  95 

30 


222 


APPENDIX. 


Crescent  43 

Chestnut  91,  92 

Cherry   .  106 

Cypress  67,  68 

Chapel   46,  47,  32,  33 

Fern  90 

Fountain  .       .       .       .  34 

Glade  79 

Holly  .  .93 

High-wood  .25 

Lawn-girt  68 

Mulberry   .  105,  93 

Meadow  104 

Myrtle  67 

Oak  96,  76 

Ocean  .       .       .        125,  120,  119,  99,  98,  100,  118,  121 

Orchard  24 

Pine  94,  79 

The  Hill  of  Graves  A,  B,  D,  115 

Sunset  61,  62,  41 

Spruce   .14 

Tulip  11 

Vine  97 

Vista.      .      .      .  .      .      .     %.      .78,  71 

White-oak     .       .       .  35 

Walnut  49 


Other  Eminences. 


Cedar  Mound  20,  21,  14 

Central  Ridge  66,  67 

Evergreen  Ridge  97,  76 

Forest  Ridge  70,  56 

Green-copse  Mound  109 

Hilly  Ridge   .22 

Indian  Mound      .   41 

Maple  Ridge  16,  15 

Lake  Ridge  19,  20 


AYEXUES,  PATHS,  HILLS,  ETC. 

Oaken  Bluff  43,  36 

Poet's  Mound  41 

Sylvan  Cliff    .   42,  43 

Sylvan  Bluff  GO,  42 

Summit  Eidge  2G 

"Woodland  Ridge  55,  54 

Dell*. 

Bay-side  108 

Cedar  72,  53 

Crescent  10,  3 

Evening  Gl 

Forest  -     .      96,  77 

Pastoral  23,  12 

Sunny  106 

Twilight  94 

Vine  75 

Waters. 

Arbor  89,  84 

Border  4,  5 

Crescent  26,  9 

Dale  32,  31,  48 

Meadow  114 

Osier  85,  86 

Sylvan  37,  38 

Valley  65,  64 

Laicns,  dr. 

Hill-girt  24 

Cedar  Grove  73,  52 

Sycamore  Grove  121,  12 2,  117 


I  X  D  E  X  . 


A. 

PAGH 


Act  of  Incorporation  , .  169 

Action  of  Brooklyn  Common  Council   171 

Addition  to  the  Ground  in  1855    78 

Addition  made  in  1862   97 

Advertisement  for  Subscriptions   181 

Aggregate  of  Annual  Receipts   207 

Aggregate  of  Annual  Expenditures   211 

Aggregate  of  Receipts  and  Expenditures   212 

Aggression  and  Annoyance   80 

Agreement  of  Land-Owners   174 

Alterations  at  Western  Entrance   8-4 

Amending  Act  of  1853   75 

Amendment  of  Charter  in  1839   178 

Amendment  of  Charter  in  1846   184 

Amendment  of  Charter  in  1850   185 

Amendment  of  Charter  in  1853   186 

Annual  Meeting  and  Contested  Election  in  1860   86 

Annual  Sales  of  Lots   201 

Annual  Receipts  for  Sales   20:; 

Annual  Number  of  Interments   204 

Annual  Receipts  on  Account  of  Public  Lots   205 

Annual  Receipts  for  Opening  Graves  and  Vaults   206 

Annual  Expenditure  for  Labor   208 

Annual  Expenditure  for  Improvements   209 

Annual  Expenditure  for  Contingencies   210 

Appendix.    Parti   117 

Appendix.    Part  II   155 


226 


INDEX. 


PAGE 


Appendix.    Part  III   167 

Application  from  New  York  City  Council   98 

Apportionment  of  Shares   16 

Appraisement  made  Sept.  24,  1838   10 

Appraisement — An  Abstract   174 

Apprehension  unrealized   147 

Archway  Finished   85 

Aspinwall,  William  H.,  elected  Trustee   61 

Avenues,  Paths,  Hills,  Dells,  and  Lakes   215 

B. 

Battle  Hill  and  the  Battle  of  Brooklyn   117 

Bay-side  Dell   49 

Bergen,  Garret — Biographical  Sketch   156 

Bergen  Tract  and  Sylvan  Water  Secured   17 

Biography   64 

Birds  in  Green- Wood   73 

Birds  Imported  from  England   73 

Bonds  Issued   25 

Bounds  Fixed   15 

Bradish,  Luther — Biographical  Sketch   165 

Brevoort,  J.  Carson,  chosen  Trustee   82 

Brooklyn  gives  Assent   14 

Brown's  Statue  of  De  Witt  Clinton   48 

Burning  of  Well-House   70 

Burrill,  S.  N  \   25 

By-Laws     198 

C. 

Cemetery  Buildings   213 

Centenarians  Buried  in  Green- Wood   195 

Chagot  Lots   13 

Chagot  Ground  and  Mount  Washington   134 

Chagot  as  a  Benefactor   135 

Chapel  Hill   63 

Chapel  Project     72 

Chapel  Proposed   77 

Chapel  Hill  is  offered  for  Sale   101 

Change  of  Views  Explained   102 


I 

INDEX.  227 

PAGE 

Charter  Amended     65 

Chestnuts  and  Weeping- Willows   136 

Clinton  Monument  Association   47 

Colored  Orphan  Asylum   56 

Commissioners  to  Receive  Subscription:--   9 

Committee  of  Finance   78 

Company  Incorporated   9 

Complaint  and  Suggestions   88 

Comptroller's  Statement  and  Proposal   90 

Conclusion   109 

Constitution  Modified  by  Legislative  Act   19 

Contributors  to  the  Clinton  Monument   188 

Cook,  Zebedee,  chosen  President   33 

Corporation  Seal   22 

Corporators,  Trustees,  Officers,  and  Assistants   190 

Correspondence — Pres.  Kay  and  Gov.  Morgan   197 

Cortelyou  House   121 

Crisis  in  Affairs,  and  Meeting  of  the  Trustees   33 

Curb-Stone  Recommended   144 

Danger  to  be  Watched  and  Avoided   90 

Defeat  of  Lord  Stirling   121 

Departure  of  the  Liquor- Venders   58 

Description  of  the  New  Buildings   57 

Difficulties  to  be  Surmounted   57 

Difficulties  are  Overcome   85 

Directors  Chosen — Their  First  Meeting   16 

Directory  for  Green- Wood   64 

Discouragements  of  1839   29 

Disuse  of  Epitaphs  accounted  for   145 

Donations  to  Charitable  Societies   65 

Douglass,  Major,  delivers  a  Lecture     7 

Douglass,  Major,  resigns  the  Presidency   32 

Douglass,  Major — Plan  of  Battle-Field   123 

Douglass,  David  Bates — Biographical  Sketch   155 

Dowling,  Rev.  Dr. — Note   14 

Drinking-Shop  Nuisance   57 


228 


INDEX. 


E. 

PAGE 

Early  Monuments  of  Green-Wood   146 

Edifice  needed  for  Monuments  and  Statuary. ,   103 

Embarrassments   21 

Embalming,  Burning,  Entombing,  and  Interring   139 

Epitaphs:  a  Passage  from  the  " Hints "     148 

Erroneous  Plans  of  the  Gowanus  Fight   123 

Evidences  of  Progress  in  1846   53 

Exorbitant  Demands   13 

Extract  from  Eeport   24 

Extract  from  the  "  Hints  "   158 

Extract  from  Minutes  of  Brooklyn  Common  Council   118 

F. 

Failure  of  Aid  Expected  from  Trinity  Church  '   21 

Fears  that  were  Groundless   26 

Fence,  Cottage,  Bell-Tower,  and  Gate  •   43 

Fences :  A  Question  of  Taste  and  Expediency   142 

Fight  near  Gowanus  Bay   121 

Financial  Situation   34 

First  Monument  in  Green- Wood   30 

First  Interment  in  the  Cemetery   31 

Flowers   138 

Foreign  Birds      134 

Free  Interment  for  New  York  Soldiers   98 

c*. 

Garret  Bergen's  Generous  Confidence     40 

Gate  for  Funerals   58 

Goodhue,  Jonathan — Extract  from  Dr.  Bellows   158 

Gravel  Hill  Purchased   97 

Green- Wood  begins  to  be  Known   24 

Green- Wood  is  Surrounded  by  a  Wooden  Palisade   36 

Green-Wood  in  Trouble   40 

"  Green- Wood  Illustrated  "   54 

Green- Wood  Cemetery  in  Court   80 

Green- Wood  Publications   130 

Griswold,  George — Biographical  Sketch   161 

Ground  Explored  and  Mapped  ,   9 


INDEX.  229 

PAGH 

Ground,  Position  of   10 

Groups  of  Sculpture  over  Northern  Gate   107 

Guide-Book  needed  and  in  Preparation   G4 

H. 

Hammond,  Alonzo  G. — Biographical  Sketch   107 

Hedge,  Quick-set — its  Advantages  and  Disadvantages   I<f4 

Historical  Associations   11 

History  of  Green-Wood  needed  and  timely   G 

I. 

Important  Land  Purchase  in  1814   4G 

Improving  Prospects   4:5 

Inauguration  Proposed   41 

Inclosures  in  Cemeteries   141 

Index  to  Eegister  of  Interments   82 

Indifference  of  the  Public  Accounted  for   2G 

Inscriptions  on  Monuments   145 

Interment — an  Argument  for  it   140 

Iron  Fence   93 

Iron  Fences — wherein  Objectionable   143 

Issue  of  Bonds  Authorized.   42 

J. 

Joint-Stock  Principle  Abandoned   18 

K. 

Keeper's  Lodge — a  Reminiscence   126 

L. 

Land-Owners'  Meeting   10 

Landing  of  British  Troops  at  New  Utrecht   120 

Largo  Purchase  and  Large  Sales   72 

Lawn-girt  Hill  Conveyed   44 

Lee  and  Stirling.   119 

Lessons  of  Disaster   120 

Loudon  on  Trees,  Shrubs,  and  Flowers   138 

31 


230 


INDEX. 


M.  PAGB 

Map  of  the  Cemetery  154 

Martense's  Lane   76 

Martense  Ground  bought   84 

Meeting  in  Brooklyn,  March  14,  1842   ,  182 

Memorial  to  Legislature,  Jan.,  1838     167 

Memorial  «  Jan.,  1839   176 

Merwin,  appointed  Examiner   67 

Misrepresentations   86 

Modes  of  Interment   139 

Monument  of  De  "Witt  Clinton   128 

Monumental  Chapel — Suggestion   147 

Monuments  and  Tombs   196 

Morrell's  Ode  to  Cemetery  Bell   126 

Mount  Auburn  founded   6 

Iff. 

Name  considered   14 

Narrow  Escape   20 

Neglect  and  Oblivion  of  Battle  Ground   118 

New  Arrangement  in  regard  to  Bonds   50 

New  Bell   63 

New  Map  and  Change  of  Names   95 

New  Provisions  in  the  Deeds   77 

New  Rule  for  Grading   59 

Northern  Entrance   85 

North  Entrance  completed  and  described   105 

Norway  Spruce   136 

Note— Plan  of  Sale  to  Churches   39 

Note— Fences   142 

O. 

Odd-Fellows' Association   46 

Offices  of  Green -"Wood  Cemetery  in  the  City   195 

Ogden,  Thomas  Ludlow   157 

Opening  of  Cemetery  advertised   41 

Operation  of  the  Grading  System   59 

Operatives  and  their  Work   152 

Opinion,  Suggestion,  and  Encouragement   35 


INDEX.  231 

PAGE 

Opposition  Defeated   88 

Organization   16 

Original  Entrance  (from  " Green- Wood  Illustrated")   150 

Ornamental  Jet  for  Reservoir   94 

O'Shaughnessy,  the  Grave-Digger   153 

Owners,  the  Original   11 

P. 

Pamphlet  of  Major  Douglass   23 

Permanent  Surveyor  Appointed   51 

Perry,  Joseph  A.,  accepts  the  Management   3T 

Perry,  J.  A.,  elected  Comptroller   44 

Photographic  Views   97 

Pierrepont,  Henry  E. — A  Suggestion   T 

Plan  of  Selling  to  Churches   27 

Plan  for  Liberating  a  Hundred  Acres   38 

Plan  for  a  ChapeL   78 

Plea  in  Behalf  of  the  Heroic  Dead   123 

Porter's  Lodge,  Stable,  House  of  Superintendent   108 

Position  and  Extent  of  the  Brooklyn  Defences   119 

Prefatory  Note   3 

Preference  for  Graves  in  the  Free  Ground  (from  the  "  Hints  ")  '.  .  141 

Price  of  Lots  Advanced  in  1847   5S 

Price  of  Lots  Advanced  in  1857   81 

Price  of  Lots  Advanced  in  1861 — Reasons  for  the  Change. . .    92 

Prices  Compared  with  the  Rates  of  other  Cemeteries   93 

Prohibition  in  Regard  to  Trees   95 

Progress  of  "Work  at  Northern  Entrance   96 

Property  Map  referred  to   13 

Prosperous  Year   101 

Purchase  of  Two  Hundred  Acres   101 

Q. 

Question  as  to  General  Effect  of  Fences  and  small  Enclosures   145 

R. 

Rail  Fence  and  Road   23 

Ray,  Robert,  chosen  President   51 

Reasons  for  Opening  the  "Western  Entrance   56 


232 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

Reasons  that  Operate  in  Favor  of  the  Tomb  ,   139 

Receiving  Tomb  Described   74 

Register  of  Interments   149 

Regret  and  Consolation   28 

Remarks  on  Accuracy  in  Mapping    62 

Renewed  Efforts  in  1840   31 

Report  of  Trustees — a  full  Vindication   90 

Reservoir  and  Water-Works   67 

Resolve  to  Publish  the  Accounts   89 

Restrictions  on  Interments   50 

Re-survey  of  Green- Wood   62 

Revolutionary  Relics  from  British  Prison-Ships   122 

s. 

Saint  Ann's  Church  takes  One  Hundred  Lots   37 

Sale  of  Two  Hundred  Lots  to  the  Churches   39 

Sanxay's  Movement   83 

Section-Posts  set  up   85 

Schermerhorn  Mortgage   21 

Schermerhorn  Forecloses  and  offers  to  Sell   35 

Schermerhorn  Property  Bought   39 

Shares  Apportioned  '   16 

Sharp-Shooters  on  Battle-Hill   122 

Slender  Means  of  the  Company   44 

Sons  of  Temperance   59 

Standing  Committee  Empowered  to  Act   61 

Statistics  of  1847   60 

Statistics  of  1848   61 

Statistics  of  1849   63 

Statistics  of  1850   66 

Statistics  of  1851  .  71 

Statistics  of  1852   72 

Statistics  of  1853   76 

Statistics  of  1854   77 

Statistics  of  1855   79 

Statistics  of  1856   80 

Statistics  of  1857   81 

Statistics  of  1858   83 

Statistics  of  1S59   84 


INDEX.  233 

PAGE 

Statistics  of  1860   86 

Statistics  of  1861   96 

Statistics  of  1862   100 

Statistics  of  1863   109 

Stockholders'  First  Meeting   16 

Subscriptions  Received  ,   38 

Successful  Effort   48 

Superintendent  of  Interments  appointed   41 

Superfluity  of  Shade  '   137 

Superintendents :  Scrimgeour,  Birrell,  and  Gamgee   151 

Supply  Well   70 

Surveyors :  Boyle  and  Wells   153 

T. 

Tendency  to  an  Excess  of  Foliage   136 

Terms  of  Subscription  Advertised   25 

Time  of  Annual  Meeting  Changed   65 

Threats  and  Attempts  to  Injure   81 

Tombs  Built  for  Sale   78 

Tomb  Facilities  of  Green- Wood   141 

Toryism  on  Long  Island   119 

Tract  Bought  of  the  Bergens  in  1847   56 

Tree-Worm   86 

Trees  and  Shrubbery   135 

Trees  Indigenous  to  Green- Wood   135 

Tribute  to  the  Bergens   53 

Tribute  to  Major  D.  B.  Douglass   65 

Trinity  Parish  makes  a  Proposal   17 

Triumphal  Arch   48 

U. 

Unsuccessful  Effort  in  1841   33 

Utility  of  the  Water- Works   67 

V. 

Van  Wagenen's  Report   34 

Van  Wagenen,  Gerrit  G. — Biographical  Sketch   159 

Visible  Advance   43 


■ 


